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PLAIN ENGLISH 


A PRACTICAL, WORK OX THK 


English Language 


FOR USE IN 


1*1 JJBIvIC and PRIVATE SCHOOLS, ACA. DENI IKS, 


COMMERCIAL COLLEGES, 


AND FOR 


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PRIVATE ^EARNERS. 




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1893 . 


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Entered according to Act of Congress, 
in the year 1892, by 

THE PRACTICAL TEXT-BOOK COMPANY, 

In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, 
at Washington. 


DEDICATED 


TO 

THE BOYS AND GIRLS 

THAT 


“DON'T LIKE GRAMMAR 


TABLE OF CONTENTS 


The Sentence : Parts of Speech Developed . i 

Analysis of Simple and Compound Sentences. 13 

Word-making. 2 7 

Parts of Speech Sub-divided. 32 

Analysis of Complex Sentences. 49 

Form-changes (“Inflections”). 53 

Verb-phrases expressing Time, etc. 7 2 

Infinitives and Participle-phrases. 78 

Auxiliary Verbs. 82 

Peculiar Uses of Words and Phrases. 85 

Exercises for Analysis. 9 6 

PART II. 

Nouns—F acts concerning, and Errors in the use of. 99 

Miscellaneous Exercises to be Corrected.100 

Pronouns.—F acts concerning, and Errors in the use of.100 

Miscellaneous Errors and Exercises to be Corrected.103 

ADjECTi\ES.) p ac ^ s coucern j nd Errors in the use of.105 

Adverbs, j 

Miscellaneous Errors and Exercises to be Corrected.108 

Verbs.—F acts concerning, and Errors in the use of.112 

Miscellaneous Errors and Exercises to be Corrected.116 

Prepositions.—F acts Concerning, and Errors in the use of.121 

Miscellaneous Errors and Exercises to be Corrected.122 

Conjunctions.—F acts Concerning, and Errors in the use of.124 

Miscellaneous Errors and Exercises to be Corrected.125 

Superfluous Words.127 

Popular Absurdities.128 

“ Awful ” Words.131 

Misused Words.132 

Big Words for Little Ideas.141 

Counterfeit Words.144 

Clearness and Force.147 

Hints to Young Writers and Speakers.161 

Punctuation.163 

Capital Letters.177 

Appropriate Prepositions.179 

APPENDIX. ' 

Notes, Quotations, and Comments.191 





































INTRODUCTORY. 


For many years, there has been an earnest and increasing 
demand for a practical text-book on the subject of language; a 
book that would present the essentials of English syntax unen¬ 
cumbered by the rubbish of which the average “grammar” has 
so largely consisted. With a view to meeting this demand, the 
present work has been prepared. We claim merit for it on two 
leading points: i. What it contains; 2. What it does not contain. 
We believe that the latter, as much as the former, entitles it to 
consideration. 

What the hook contains. —Some things that are new; more 
that are not. The method of treating the subject and the order 
of arrangement are the principal features of originality. In 
both these respects, the work will be found thoroughly logical. 

Part I covers the essential points in English syntax, includ¬ 
ing all that pertains to the seven parts of speech and the analysis 
of sentences. Set rules have purposely been omitted. Definitions 
have been admitted but sparingly, and in no case until the 
thing defined has been fully explained. The sentences for 
practice in analysis have been carefully graded so as to lead the 
student on in a well-lighted pathway. The parsing to be done is 
informal,—not of the “ cold-blooded ” sort which has so long been 
the bane of English grammar teaching. Apt illustrations and 
interesting exercises are introduced from time to time, and the 
colloquial style of presentation has been adhered to throughout. 
These features will enhance the value of the book in the hands 
of beginners, and furnish a helpful review for others. Some of 
the lessons may seem rather long, but they are natural rather 



VI 


INTROD UCTOR V. 


than arbitrary divisions of the work. Considering the very small 
part to be committed to memory, there are but few of the lessons 
that may not be taken by an average class at one recitation. 

Some may be surprised to find in a work claiming to be prac¬ 
tical, that time-honored exercise, conjugation ; but a closer exam¬ 
ination will reveal the fact that the conjugating is not of the “ I 
love,” “You love,” “He loves” pattern. Only irregular verbs 
are given for practice, and of these, such troublesome ones as the 
oft-confused lie and lay, sit and set . 

Part II is more general in character, covering a variety of 
subjects and large amount of material for practice, all of which 
will be found highly practical. The chapters on Clearness and 
Force, and Punctuation, and the list of Appropriate Prepositions 
will be found especially valuable features. Considerable space 
has been given to the study of misused words for the following 
reason: Once get a student interested in a critical study of 
words and current phrases, and he naturally becomes critical re¬ 
garding other features of English. This makes of him a “ reflect¬ 
ive user of language,”—the essential thing for self-improvement. 

The Appendix, consisting for the most part of quotations from 
the very best authors, constitutes in itself a valuable book of 
reference for teachers and advanced students. Many of the spicy 
paragraphs, particularly those from the pens of Gould, Mathews, 
and White, on misused words, will help to enliven the work and 
fix the points in the minds of students. 

The system of references from one part of the book to another, 
by paragraph numbers, will be found of great value to both 
student and teacher. By means of these, all facts bearing upon 
a point may readily be found. 

The general plan of the work is such as to enable a student to 
get a maximum of benefit with a minimum of labor and time. 
Advanced classes,—those composed of students who have ac¬ 
quired a fair knowledge of English syntax—may begin study at 
Part II, at the same time reviewing the essential points in Part I. 


I NT ROD UCFOR Y. 


VII 


On reaching the Appendix, such classes may continue the review 
work by means of the references to all parts of the book. 

What the book does not contain. —Upon this point, particularly, 
we base our claim of real merit. The aim has been to exclude 
all make-believe. Only the facts of our mother-tongue have 
been presented, and these have been stated in plain English. 
Mere technicalities are “ conspicuous for their absence.” 

Teachers have long been asking themselves and one another this 
question : “ Why do we not get better results from our teaching 

of English grammar? ” To this we venture to give the following 
answer: We have been attempting to teach so much that does 
not belong to the English language. A large part of our so-called 
“grammar” has been pure make-believe. In the words of 
Richard Grant White, we have been trying to “ measure otir 
English corn in Latin bushels.” Imported Latinisms, such as 
1 voice ’ and ‘ gender,’ together with fictitious ‘ cases,’ ‘ moods,’ 
‘ tenses,’ etc., and equally fictitious rules , have consumed much 
valuable time that should have been given to studying the reali¬ 
ties and beauties of our language. We have been teaching too 
much grammar , not enough language. Samuel Ramsey says : 

“ The weary hours and years spent by our youth in parsing English sen¬ 
tences according to forms borrowed from Greek and Latin are worse than 
wasted—useless for the avowed purpose of learning to speak and write, and 
leading to a misapprehension of what our language is.” 

The small remnants of real grammar in our language (to be 
found in a few pronoun-forms, one ‘ case ’ of nouns, two adjectives, 
and, to a very limited extent, in verbs) form a very inconsiderable 
part of English syntax. There are worse errors in every-day 
speech than using the wrong pronoun-form, or failing to make 
the verb “ agree with its subject.” The old farmer who declares 
that “them horses is matches,” commits a less offense against 
good English than his pretentious city cousin who announces 
that “ those horses are pretty equally matched with each other.” 
In fact, as Mr. Ramsey says, ours is a language in which “ the 
dictionary counts for everything, the grammar almost nothing.” 


vi i r 


INTRODUCTOR V. 


SUGGESTIONS TO TEACHERS AND PARENTS. 

To Teachers : Read the preface and introduction to this book and ask your 
students to do the same. 

Read carefully all foot-notes and notes to the teacher. 

Require students to read all references. [It may be best, however, to 
have beginners confine their reference reading to Parts I and II, as some of 
the points in the Appendix might have a tendency to confuse them at the start. ] 

Get up enthusiasm in your classes. To do this, do not dwell on minor 
points; for instance, don’t spend much time on the kinds of pronouns and ad¬ 
jectives in Lessons 13 and 14. All parsing should be informal and should never 
include facts beyond the point to which the student has advanced at the time. 

Remember that the mere correcting of errors is, in itself, of little value; 
indeed, any work that does not lead a student to think for himself is a waste 
of time. 

To Parents: Your work must precede, as well as accompany, that of the 
teacher ; his work is supplementary to yours. 

You can do very much by encouraging habits of promptness, neatness, and 
independent effort on the part of your children. Irregular attendance at school 
is fatal to genuine success. 

Under the guise of “baby-talk,” children are often allowed to form incorrect 
habits of speech that will stick to them through life. During the first six years 
of his life, a child can learn more that is wrong than he can possibly unlearn 
in the next dozen years. 

Remember that, if your children “hear poor English and read poor English, 
they will pretty surely speak poor English and write poor English.” 

To both teachers and parents, the following, by Professor Whit¬ 
ney, contains most excellent advice: [ Italics are ours.~\ 

“ It should be a pervading element in the whole school and home training of 
the young to make them use their own tongue with accuracy and force, and 
along with any special drilling directed to this end, some of the rudimentary 
distinctions and rules of grammar are conveniently taught; but that is not the 
study of grammar , and it will not bear the intrusion of much formal grammar 
without being spoiled for its own ends. It is constant use and practice, under 
never-failing watch and correction, that makes good writers and speakers ; the 
application of direct authority is the most efficient corrective. Grammar has 
its part to contribute, but rather in the higher than in the lower stages of the 
work. One must be a somewhat reflective user of language to amend even here 
and there a point by grammatical reasons; and no one ever changed from a bad 
speaker to a good one by applying the rules of grammar to what he said." 


PLAIN ENGLISH 


LESSON 1. 

1. Words. —There are a great many words in the English lan¬ 
guage, but nearly all of them belong to a few classes called “ Parts 
of Speech.” This name, ‘ part-of-speech,’ when applied to a 
word, signifies that there is something incomplete about it; and 
this is true, for a word is only a fraction or ‘ part ’ of our speech, 
or language, as we use it in speaking or writing. (31.) 

2. Sentences.— If a person says ‘men,’ ‘boats,’ ‘flowers,’ 
‘ boys,’ and stops without saying anything else, you wonder what 
he means. You know that he has spoken the names of things, 
but you cannot tell whether he is going to say something good 
or something bad about them. Again, if he speaks the words 
‘ write,’ ‘ sail,’ ‘ bloom,’ ‘ work,’ without using other words with 
them, you do not understand what he means, because he has told 
you only a part of his thought. But if he says— 

‘Men write,’ ‘Boats sail,’ ‘Flowers bloom,’ ‘Boys work,’ 

you begin to understand his thoughts, because he not only has 
named the things he is thinking about, but has told you what he 
thinks about them. When two or more words are put together 
in this way so as to make sense y they form a SENTENCE. 

3. Subject and Predicate.— You will notice that each of the 
sentences above has two parts: 1. The part about which 
something is said. This is called the subject. 2. The part 
that asserts, or says something about the subject. This is called 



2 


PLAIN ENGLISH. 


the predicate. ( Predicate means ‘to speak’—‘to assert.’) 
Nearly all our sentences contain other parts, but we shall find 
there are always these two ; in fact, we cannot make sense with¬ 
out them. If we say— 

‘ Business men write rapidly/ ‘ The large boats sail smoothly/ 

‘ Pretty flowers bloom in the meadow/ '• Industrious boys work hard/ 

we do not change the subjects and predicates of our sentences, 
except to add other words* to them to bring in other ideas we wish 
to express. 

4 . In a game of base-ball, each player is named from the part 
he takes, or what he does; as “pitcher,” “catcher,” “umpire,” 
etc. So it is with the words we use in our sentences. What a 
word does decides what part-of-speech it is. 

(a) All words used like ‘ men,’ ‘boats,’ ‘flowers,’ and ‘boys,’ 
in the sentences above, to name things, are called nouns. 

( b) All words used like ‘write,’ ‘sail,’ ‘bloom,’ and ‘work,’ 
to assert, or say something of the subject, are called verbs. 

() The words ‘ the,’ ‘ large,’ ‘ pretty,’ ‘ business,’ and ‘ industri¬ 
ous,’ are not used like ‘ men,’ ‘ boats,’ ‘ flowers,’ ‘ meadow,’ and 
‘ boys,’ to name things, so we do not call them nouns. Neither 
are the words ‘rapidly,’ ‘smoothly,’ ‘in,’ and ‘hard,’ in these 
, sentences, used like the words ‘ write,’ ‘ sail,’ ‘ bloom,’ and ‘ work,’ 
to assert, therefore they are not verbs. 

5 . Now let us see what we have learned in this lesson : 

First.— Parts of speech are the classes into which words are 
divided according to what they do in sentences. (331.) 

Second. —A sentence consists of two or more words put together 
so as to make sense, or express a thought. 

Third. —A sentence is composed of two parts: 1. The sub¬ 
ject, naming the thing about which something is asserted ; and, 
2 . The predicate , which does the asserting. 


PLAIN ENGLISH. 


3 


Fourth. —Words used to name things are called nouns. 

Fifth. —Words used to assert are called verbs. (33 2 -) 

Sixth. —That all other words in a sentence will be named ac¬ 
cording to what they do. 

SENTENCE MAKING. 

6. Make sentences by asserting something of the following 
subjects : ( Do not supply more than one word.) 


trees . 


••• girls. 



soldiers. 


women. 

snow 


children. 


bees.. 



birds.. 


••• flags. 




To what part-of-speech do the words you have supplied be¬ 
long ? 

7 . Make sentences by naming subjects for the following pred¬ 
icates : ( Do not supply more than one word.) 



.fly . 



....swim 

.build _ 



travel 

.sti ti? . 

..read . 







To what part-of-speech do the words you have supplied be¬ 
long ? 

8. For your next lesson, write ten sentences of two words each, 
by furnishing both subject and predicate. Then, to the subjects 
and predicates of five of these sentences, add one or two words, 
as we did with the sentence ‘ Boys work.’ 

MODEE : The industrious boys work hard. [ See Rule i for capitals, 323. ] 


































4 


PLAIN ENGLISH. 


LESSON 2 . 

Review first lesson. 

9 . We learned in our first lesson that we can express a thought 
with two parts of speech, a noun and a verb. 

We learned also that a verb is a word that asserts, and that the 
predicate of the sentence is the part that asserts or says some¬ 
thing about the subject. Hence, we conclude that every predi¬ 
cate must contain a verb. 

10 . The predicate often consists of more than one word; as— 

The comet was seen. John had been writing. 

In the first sentence, it takes two words to make the assertion, 
was seen; in the second, three are required: had been writing. 
When two or more words must be taken together in this way to 
express a meaning, they are called a phrase. Thus, was seen 
and had been writing are verb-phrases. (333.) 

11 . Pronouns.— While the verb is the only part-of-speech that 
can be used to make an assertion, a noun is not the only one that 
can be used as the subject, that is, to tell what we are talking 
about. If a teacher, in speaking of the boys and girls in his 
school, should say “ They study,” or if he should point to George 
and say “ He studies,” or to Mary and say “ She studies,” you 
would understand his meaning, although he would not be using 
anyone’s name. The words he, she , and they , are used in place 
of the names of the persons ; hence, they are called pronouns. 
( Pro- means ‘ for ’ or ‘ in the place of. ’) 

A pronoun mentions a thing without naming it. (334.) 

12 . There are not many pure pronouns in our language. 
Those you will use oftenest as subjects of sentences are I, you, 
he, she, we, they, and it. Write seven sentences using these 
pronouns for subjects. Let the sentences be short. Use verb- 
phrases for some of the predicates. 


PLAIN ENGLISH. 


5 


13. We shall find that words generally used as other parts of speech are 
sometimes used as pronouns, that is, ‘to represent things without naming them.’ 
Both nouns and pronouns have other uses besides being the subjects of sen¬ 
tences. We shall learn about this at another time. 


Tell what thing is represented by each of the italicized words 
in the following 


fable. 


A fox once invited a stork to dine with him. He set before her a shallow 
dish of food. The fox ate of it greedily for the dish suited his short nose. 
But the poor bird, dipping in the end of her long beak, could scarcely take up 
any of it. “ You do not take your soup,” said the fox. “ / fear you do not 
like it." Then he bade the servant bring some puddings. But when the pud¬ 
dings were brought, they also were all in shallow dishes, so that the poor 
stork could not enjoy them. The spiteful fox enjoyed his cruel joke, but the 
hungry stork went home angry. However, she determined to revenge herself on 
her cunning enemy. She waited till the fox had forgotten his trick and then 
she sent him an invitation to dinner. When they sat down there were six 
dishes on the table, but they were so narrow at their tops that the fox could not 
get his head into them. He tried each dish, but in vain. Meantime, the stork 
dipped in her long bill and dined very pleasantly; but the fox was silent and 
sullen. Presently he burst out: “ I do not like your dishes, Mrs. Stork.” “ Nor 
did I like your dishes, Mr. Fox.” 


Point out thirty-eight nouns in this fable. 



LESSON 3. 


14. Yon have seen that a great many sentences can be formed 
by using a noun or. pronoun for the subject and a verb for the 
predicate. These Mmree parts of speech are the only ones that 
can form sentences without the help of other words. But there 
are other parts of speech in most of our sentences, and we are 
now to consider two of them that are very closely connected 
with the subject and^redicate. 






Kjl 


























6 


PLAIN ENGLISH . 


] 5. Adjectives.—If we say— 

‘ The chilly wind blows,’ ‘ This red rose has faded,’ 

‘ The light wood burns,’ ‘ The cold rain was falling,’ 

we add tlie words ‘ the,’ ‘ this,’ ‘ chilly,' ‘ light,’ ‘ red,’ and ‘ cold,’ 
to the nouns to describe or point out the things named. All 
words added to nouns in this way are called ADJECTIVES. The 
word “ adjective ” means ‘ added,’ that is, added to a noun. (335.) 

When we say‘Wood burns,’ we make a general statement, that is, we say a 
thing that is true of any kind of wood ; but when we say ‘ the wood,’ or ‘ this 
wood,’ or ‘ hard wood,’ or ‘ light wood,’ we limit the word ‘ wood ’ to some par¬ 
ticular kind , or to some particular piece of wood, by pointing out or describing 
the wood we are speaking about. Words added to a noun in this way are said to 
“ qualify ” or “ limit ” it, since they tell what kind or quality the thing is, or 
else they point out a certain object and thus limit the name so we can tell which 
one is meant. Therefore— 

An adjective is a word added to a noun or pronoun to qualify or 
limit its meaning. 

{a) You may generally know an adjective by its answering one of the 
following questions: Which ? What kind? How many ? 

Remark.—Sometimes several adjectives limit or qualify the same noun. 

( b ) Words that limit or qualify other words are called modifiers, because 
they modify (‘affect’) the ideas represented by the words to which they are 
added. 

Point out the adjectives in the sentences at (a) in paragraph 
40, and tell what question each one answers. 

16. Predicate Adjectives.—When we say ‘Apples fall,’ we 
make a general statement; but in the sentence, ‘ Ripe apples fall,’ 
we limit the statement to a certain kind or class of apples, by 
adding the word ‘ ripe ’ to the noun. But this is not the only 
way to add a describing word to a noun, for we may say— 

‘The apples are ripe.’ 

In this sentence we have done more than simply call them 
‘ ripe apples; ’ we have made a positive assertion that they are 
ripe. You will notice that the little word ‘ are ’ does the assert¬ 
ing, therefore it is a verb. You will notice also that if you drop 




PLAIN ENGLISH. 


7 




the word ‘ripe’ and say ‘ The apples are,’ the verb ‘are’ does 
not seem to make a complete predicate. It requires the addition 
of some word to make the sense complete. Now, ripe is not a 
verb but an adjective describing the apples, and it is connected 
to the subject by are. 


( a ) Besides are, there are a few other verbs that do not make complete pred¬ 
icates by themselves. The commonest of them are be, am, is, was, and 
were. (ioo b, Note .) They are called copula verbs, because they are almost 
always followed by some word which they couple (‘ connect ’) to the subject, 
and which describes or limits the subject in some way. 


(b) When an adjective is used as we used ‘ripe,’ to complete 
the sense of the predicate and qualify the subject, it is called a 
PREDICATE adjective, that is, an adjective in the predicate. (342.) 


Examples: Iron is heavy. John was sick. We are sorry. I am well. 


Make sentences of the following by putting adjectives after the 
copula verbs: 


The sun is. 

The peaches are.... 
The children were 

The fire was. 

The cherries were. 


The water is. 

The nuts are. 

The flowers were, 

The ice was. 

The men were.... 


(c) The copulas are often put before other verbs to help form 
verb-phrases; as— 

They are walking. He was writing. The berries were picked. 

Make sentences by putting verbs in the blanks given above. 

17. Nouns and pronouns are often used to complete the predi¬ 
cate assertion, being coupled to the subject by some copula verb. 
They are then called predicate-nouns and pronouns. (342.) 

Examples: Willie is a casli-boy. Frank is a reporter. They are miners. 
We were chums. It is I. It was she. It was they. 

Make sentences of the following by putting nouns after the 
copulas: 

Charles is... Mr. Morgan is...... Eillie is. 

We are. He was. They were. . 


















8 


PLAIN ENGLISH . 


Complete the following by putting pronouns after the copulas: 

(Use only the pronouns given in paragraph 12.) 

It is. It is. It is. It is. 

It was. It was. It was. It was. 

WORD EXERCISE. (Oral.) 

18. Furnish adjectives that mean the opposite of these: 


hard, 

sorry, 

ripe, 

little, 

white, 

careful, 

smooth, 

late, 

honest, 

narrowj 

sweet, 

full, 

weak, 

tough, 

happy, 

crooked, 

long, 

noisy, 

slow, 

light. 


Write sentences containing these adjectives, or their opposites, and hand 
them in at your next lesson. 

(a) Write sentences containing the following words used in 
the ways indicated: 

Plow, as a noun ;'as a verb. Plant , as a noun; as a verb. 

Paint , as a noun ; as a verb. Lost, as a verb ; as an adjective. 

Fire, as a noun ; as a verb. Cold, as a noun ; as an adjective. 

Light , as a noun ; as a verb; as an adjective. 

MODEiy: All hope is gone. ( noun.) I hope not. (verb.) 


LESSON 4. 

Review , and discuss sentences brought in by students. 

19. Adverbs.—In our last lesson, we learned about the words 
that are added to the noun to qualify or limit its meaning. Now 
let us look at some of those words we added to the verbs in our 
first lesson. Take the sentence, ‘ Business men write rapidly.’ 
We may leave off the last word and still have a sentence, since 
the other three words will make sense without it. The word 
‘ rapidly ’ is added to the word ‘ write ’ to express another idea 
we have in mind. It tells how the men write. Words used in 
this way are called adverbs, which means ‘ added to verbs.’ 











PLAIN ENGLISH. 


20. While nearly all adverbs are added to verbs to qualify 
them, sometimes an adverb is added to an adjective to answer 
the question how ? before it; as^- 

The air was very impure. The road is too rough. 

Here the adverbs ‘very ’ and ‘too ’ are added to the. adjectives ‘impure’ and 
‘ rough ’ to tell how impure and how rough. Too and very are always adverbs. 

( a ) Again, an adverb is sometimes added to another adverb 
to answer the question how ? 

Examples: It rained very gently. You must work more carefully. 

An adverb is a word that modifies the meaning of a verb or an ad¬ 
jective, and it sometimes modifies another verb. (336.) 

21. If we say ‘ Some business men write very rapidly,’ we qualify not only 
write , by adding to it the word ‘ rapidly,’ but also rapidly, by adding to it the 
word ‘ very.’ 

Notice, too, that we have limited the subject still further, by using the word 
1 some,’ which expresses the idea that not all business men write very rapidly, 
but that some of them do. 

Thus each word we use in a sentence represents some idea. Each word does 
something to help us express our thoughts. So, we may say that a word is the 
sign of an idea. An idea is a part of a complete thought. When we say— 

‘ The beautiful little violets bloom in the springtime,’ 

the idea of beauty and the idea of their being little are parts of the thought 
we express about the violets. 

22. How to Tell Adverbs.—We can generally tell without 
much trouble which words are adverbs, for they will answer one 
of the following questions : How ? When ? Where ? Why f 
How long f How often ? and sometimes How much f but not 
Hoiv many? In the following sentences, fill the blanks with 
adverbs that will answer some of these questions: 

Modei.: That man works....(how?) ‘quietly;’ (when?) daily. 

The train runs. The soldiers marched. 

The girl studies. The fire burns. 

The rain falls. He talked.sensibly. 

You should walk. He was.confident. 

The men fought.. She reads.rapidly. 














10 


PLAIN ENGLISH. 


23. Point out the nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives, and 
adverbs in the following sentences and tell what words the 
adverbs modify: 

The leader spoke loudly. Wet wood burns slowly. 

The soldiers stepped quickly. He was very seriously hurt. 

The flowers were quite fragrant. Then we walked more carefully. 

Tell which of the underscored words in the fable on page 5 are adjectives and 
which are adverbs. Tell in each case what the word modifies and what ques¬ 
tion it answers. [See paragraphs 15 {a) and 22.] 

See how many pronouns, adjectives, and adverbs you can find in the story of 
“Judge Grammar’s Court,” in paragraph 125. 

24. The same word may be an adjective in one sentence and 
an adverb in another. [ See paragraph 4. ] 

WORD EXERCISE. ( Oral or Written.) 

Use each of the following words, first as an adjective, then as 
an adverb: Little, late, hard, first, fast, last, much, more, high, 
long, short. 


LESSON 5. 

25. We have learned about the independent parts of speech- 
nouns, pronouns, and verbs. With these we can form sentences 
without the help of other words. We have also studied about 
the modifying parts of speech—adjectives and adverbs. 

We are now ready to study about two other classes of words 
that we often use in our sentences. Let us see what they do. 

2(>. Prepositions. —We have seen how a noun or pronoun may 
be used as the subject of a sentence. By putting some word like 
at, in, of, to, by, for, from, with, or without, before them, we may 
use nouns or pronouns in the place of adjectives and adverbs to 
describe or limit nouns and verbs. Thus, we may say— 




PLAIN ENGLISH. 


11 


‘ He is a man of wealth,' or, ‘ He is a wealthy man.’ 

‘ A toad with horns is a curiosity,’ or, ‘ A horned toad is a curiosity.’ 

‘ A tree without leaves is not beautiful,’ or, ‘ A leafless tree is not’—etc. 

‘ I spoke in haste' instead of, ‘ I spoke hastily.’ 

‘ She writes with ease' instead of, ‘ She writes easily.’ 

‘ He went at that time,' instead of, ‘ He went then.’ 

In the first three of these sentences, the phrases ‘ of wealth,’ 
‘with horns,’ and ‘ without leaves,’ are used in the place of the 
adjectives wealthy , horned , and leafless. In the other three, the 
phrases ‘ in haste,’ ‘ with ease,’ and ‘ at that time,’ take the place 
of the adverbs hastily , easily , and then. 

The little words that begin these phrases are called preposi¬ 
tions. (337.) 

27. A phrase, as we have already learned ( 10 ) , is made up of 
words which must be read together to show their meaning in the 
sentence. 

(a) When a phrase takes the place of an adjective, it is called 
an adjectival phrase. (338.) 

( b ) When it takes the place of an adverb, a phrase is called 
adverbial. 

28. Point out the prepositions in the following sentences and 
tell whether they begin adjectival or adverbial phrases ; also tell 
what single word each of the phrases is equivalent to : 

Model : A man of prudence was chosen. Of is a preposition intro¬ 
ducing the adjectival phrase of prudence , which is equivalent to the adjective 
‘ prudent,’ describing ‘ man.’ The sentence w r hen abbreviated reads, ‘A prudent 
man was chosen.’ 

1. An act of kindness pays. 2. A thing of beauty is admired. 3. Trips of 
pleasure were taken. 4. A boy without a home should be pitied. 5. He is a 
man of honor. 6. A person of experience is wanted. 7. It was an act of 
bravery. 8. The soldiers were men without fears. 9. We all went in haste. 
10. They listened with reverence. 11. He lived by himself. 12. That man 
spoke without thought. 13. The soldier was rewarded for his deed of heroism. 

Point out the subjects and predicates in the sentences above. 

Point out the prepositions and phrases in the fable on page 5 . 


12 


PLAIN ENGLISH. 


29. Conjunctions.—In the sentences— 

John and Henry went to school, Mary plays and sings well, 

The man or his wife will come, I am not glad but sorry, 

we have three words that are different from any we have yet 
studied. 

In the first sentence, the subject is ‘John and Henry,’ the two names being 
joined together by the word ‘ and.’ In the second sentence, the same word con¬ 
nects the two verbs, ‘ plays ’ and ‘ sings.’ In the third sentence, or is used to 
connect the two nouns ‘man’ and ‘wife.’ In the last sentence, but joins 
together the adjectives ‘ glad’ and ‘ sorry.’ 

( a ) These words, and , or , but , and others like them, are called 
conjunctions. ( Con- means ‘ together; ’ junction , ‘ to join.’) 

[For list of principal conjunctions, see paragraphs no {a) and 112.] 

( b ) Conjunctions often connect phrases; thus— 

They rushed into the house and up the stairs. 

Here the two abverbial phrases, ‘ into the house ’ and ‘ up the stairs,’ are 
joined together by and. 

(c) Conjunctions are also used to join sentences together; as— 

John came and I went. She played but they did not sing. 

( d) We find, from the above, that— 

Conjunctions join together words, phrases, and sentences. (339.) 

30. For your next lesson, write five answers to each of the 
following questions, using a preposition in each answer: 

Where did John go ? Where , or how , did they travel ? When did you go? 

Models : John went into the house. They traveled through Burope, by boat. 
I went in the evening ,—after school ,—before supper. 

Point out the conjunctions in the sentences in paragraph 51 . 


PLAIN ENGLISH. 


13 


LESSON 6. 

Review briefly the seven parts of speech. 

31. We have learned that there are seven different ways in 
which words may be used in sentences to express our thoughts. 
There are a few words that are sometimes used along with sen¬ 
tences to make exclamations, or express some strong feeling. 
They are such as, O ! oh ! ah ! pshaw ! hello ! hurrah ! halleluiah ! 
and are called interjections. Since these words express 
feelings and not ideas , they do not add anything to the thought 
of the sentence with which they are used, therefore, they are not 
properly “ parts of speech.” They might be compared to the 
boys that sit on the fence and yell while the men are playing 
ball. These boys do not take part in the game. They simply 
give expression to their feelings. ( 340 .) 

Note. —Besides the interjections, there are but few words in our language that 
are ever used in such a way that we cannot name them as belonging to one of 
the seven parts of speech. The principal ones are yes and no, used in answer¬ 
ing questions; it and there, when used as indefinite subjects of sentences; 
and so, well, now, why, and that, when used merely to introduce sen¬ 
tences. 

Examples: Did he go ? No. Are you busy ? Yes. There are exceptions 
to all rules. Welt, it is finished. So, you are going, are you ? It is true that 
I am going. Why, I am surprised. Now , it happened in this way. 

32. The base-ball player does not always take the same part. 
For instance, the “short-stop ” for a base-ball team in one game 
may be the “ catcher” in the next game; yet he will be the same 
person. So it is with most of the words we use. They do not 
always belong to the same part-of-speech, because they do not 
always do the same thing in the sentences. To illustrate this, 
take the following sentences : 

Singing was taught. They are singing. The singing bird delighted us. 

Here the word ‘ singing ’ does three different things. In the 
first sentence, it appears as the name of an action, therefore it is 


14 


PLAIN ENGLISH. 


a noun ; in the second, it is one of the asserting words, therefore 
it is a verb; while in the third, it describes or qualifies the noun 
‘ bird,’ therefore it is an adjective. So you see we cannot name a 
word (tell what part-of-speech it belongs to) until we find out 
what it does in the sentence. 

33. The work of finding out what a word does and then 
naming it, is called parsing. There are two steps in parsing: 
i. Pointing out the subject and predicate, and the words and 
phrases that modify them. 2 . Naming the part-of-speech to 
which each word belongs. The first step is usually called 
analysis. 

34 . Elements.—To analyse anything is ‘ to unloose ’ or ‘ sepa¬ 
rate it into its parts; ’ and we speak of ‘ analyzing ’ a sentence 
when we pick out the subject and predicate and other parts, be¬ 
cause we do, in a sense, ‘ unloose ’ or ‘ separate ’ them from one 
another. These parts of a sentence are called its ELEMENTS. 

( a) An element of a sentence may consist of a word, a phrase, or a clause. 
So far, our phrases have been either verb-phrases, adjectival phrases, or adverbial 
phrases ; but, as we shall see farther on, phrases of one kind or another may be 
used as any part of a sentence. 

35. Principal Elements.—In our first lesson we found that 
each sentence must contain at least two elements, a subject and a 
predicate. ( 3 .) Since no sentence can be formed without these 
two, and since they can express a thought without the help of 
other elements, the subject and predicate are called principal 
ELEMENTS. (Prmcipal means ‘ highest in rank or importance.’) 

36. Sentences containing only principal elements, to be ana¬ 
lyzed and parsed : 

Example of Analysis and Parsing: Snow melts. Snow is the subject of 
this sentence, and melts is the predicate. Snow is the name of something, 
therefore it is a noun. Melts is an asserting word, therefore it is a verb. 

Winds blow. Lawyers plead. Flowers bloom. 

Men trade. Water freezes. Merchants fail. 

Women sew. She cried. Children play. 

Railroads are built. He was arrested. Letters were written. 


PLA/JV ENGLISH. 


15 


37. Subordinate Elements.— We have seen that other parts 
may be added to the subject and predicate to bring in other ideas. 
Thus, we may say— 

‘ The snow on the mountain melts slowly.’ 

Here the subject ‘ snow ’ is modified by the adjective ‘ the ’ and 
the phrase ‘ on the mountain; ’ while the predicate ‘ melts ’ is 
modified by the adverb ‘ slowly.’ Snow is the bare subject, and 
The snow on the mountains is the complete subject. ‘ Melts ’ is 
the bare predicate, while melts slowly is the complete predicate. 

(a) The bare subject is the subject without its modifiers. 

The complete subject is the bare subject with all its modifiers. 

* ( b) The bare predicate is the predicate without its modifiers. 

The complete predicate is the bare predicate with all its modifiers. 

Remarks.—The bare subject and bare predicate are also called the un¬ 
modified subject and unmodified predicate. (341 .) 

The complete subject and complete predicate are also called the modified 
subject and modified predicate. 

(e) All the words and phrases added to the bare subject and 
bare predicate to form the complete subject and complete pred¬ 
icate are called subordinate ELEMENTS. ( Subordinate means 
‘ lower in rank or importance.’) 

There are four subordinate elements; namely, adjectival , 
adverbial , objective , and connecting . 

38. An adjectival element modifies a noun or pronoun. 

39. An adverbial element modifies any other part-of-speech 
except nouns and pronouns. (336 b. ) 

Remark.—Adjectival and abverbial elements, when they are single words, are 
generally adjectives and adverbs; but we shall see farther on that nouns and 
pronouns are sometimes used for these elements. 

40. Sentences containing adjectival and adverbial elements, 
to be analyzed and parsed : 

Model, : The whole train was badly wrecked. Train is the bare sub¬ 
ject, and was wrecked is the bare predicate. The complete subject is The 7t>hole 


16 


PLAIN ENGLISH. 


train ; the complete predicate, was badly wrecked. Train is a name, therefore 
it is a noun. Was wrecked makes the assertion, therefore it is a verb-phrase. 
The and whole limit the noun ‘train,’ therefore they are adjectives. Badly 
modifies the verb-phrase ‘ was wrecked,’ therefore it is an adverb. 


( b ) Those men talk loudly. 

The clerk was very angry. 

Such sights are rarely seen. 

The note is now due. 

They seldom make a mistake. 

We were greatly disappointed. 

The market is extremely dull. 

The water is not pure. 

That man always pays promptly. 

That lady is very graceful. 

The streets were nearly blockaded. 
The bargain has just been completed. 
She has always been cheerful. 


{a) Cold winds blow. 

The little birds sing. 

The pretty flowers bloom. 
Business men trade. 

The ship was staunch. 

The winter is mild. 

The little children are happy. 
Stale food is unwholesome. 
Long letters were written. 
They should be made solid. 
The boy has been absent. 

The weather had been hot. 
Those papers will be valuable. 


Notice that a verb-phrase, as well as a single copula verb, may 
be followed by an adjective. 

41 . Sentences containing adjectival and abverbial phrase- 
elements, to be analyzed and parsed : 

Model : A gentle breeze was blowing from the south. Bare subject, 
breeze; bare predicate, was blowing ; complete subject, a gentle breeze; com¬ 
plete predicate, was blowing from the south. From the south is an adverbial 
phrase modifying ‘ was blowing.’ A and gentle are adjectives modifying the 
noun ‘ breeze.’ Was blowing is a verb-phrase. From is a preposition intro¬ 
ducing the phrase ‘ from the south.’ The is an adjective limiting the noun 
‘ south.’ 

i. The flowers in the garden are blooming. 2. The papers are delivered in 
the evening. 3. The bushes along the bank are green. 4. Merchants advertise 
in newspapers. 5. The pebbles in the brook were very smooth. 6. The money 
was deposited in the bank. 7. The flowers in the woods are fragrant. 8. We 
walked slowly across the fields. 9. The house by the river was swept away by 
the flood. 10. Farmers work hard during the summer. 11. The dew 011 the 
grass sparkled in the sunlight. 12. The man with one arm was drowned. 
13. Too many men are guilty of embezzlement. 14. Letters of recommendation 
will be helpful to you. 15. A large number of boys were present on time 
16. Snow remains on some high mountains throughout the summer. 17. The 
history of words is an interesting study. 18. Regular hours of sleep are neces¬ 
sary to health. 


PLAIN ENGLISH. 


17 


(a) Adjectival phrases are sometimes used as a part of the 
predicate after a copula verb ; as— 

John is of a quiet disposition. 

In this sentence, of a quiet disposition describes John as truly as the adjective 
‘quiet* does in ‘John is always quiet.’ Therefore of a quiet disposition is a 
predicate-adjectival-phrase. (16 b and 342.) 

( b ) Sometimes the copula verb is followed by a phrase that 
does not describe the subject, but tells where the person or thing 
A, was , or will be ; as— 

He is in Europe. The key was under the mat. I shall be at home. 

When-the phrase thus answers the question where? the copula verb forms 
the predicate by itself and the phrase is an adverbial one. 

19. That man is in earnest. 20. The boys were in fun. 21. The pigs are in 
the clover. 22. The cow is in the corn. 23. I am in doubt about it. 24. The 
machine is of little use. 25. The top was of brass. 26. They are by themselves. 
27. The bees are on the wing. 28. It will be in a bad condition. 29. We were 
under shelter. 30. We shall be under obligations to you. 31. The cottage is 
in the shade of a large oak. 

(c ) Adverbial phrases often come at the first of the sentence. 

[ See-rule for punctuating such sentences, 304. ] 

32. In some countries, salt is very valuable. 33. In the meantime, the old 
homestead had been sold to a wealthy planter. 34. In that way, the whole 
fortune was spent. 35. By this time, we could see quite clearly. 36. For a few 
minutes, he was dazed by the news. 37. Near the lake, a beautiful mansion had 
been built. 


LESSON 7. 

42. Objective Elements.— In the sentence— 

The lightning struck the tall tree in the park, 

tree names the object that was struck. And in the sentence— 

The little child overturned the kettle of boiling water, 

kettle names the object, or thing that the child turned over. 



18 


PLAIN ENGLISH. 


Kettle is the bare (or unmodified) object, and kettle of boiling 
zvater is the complete object. 

The water scalded him. 

In this sentence, him is the object telling who was scalded. 
Again, in the sentence— 

That young lady has a handsome watch, 

watch is the object, telling what the young lady has , or possesses. 

When a noun or pronoun is used after a verb in such a way as 
to answer the question what? (or who?), it is called the object 
of the verb. (343 and 348.) 

Notice that these objects follow verbs that express doing or 
having; that is, action or possession. 

The copula verbs (16 a) do not express action or possession, 
therefore they are not followed by objects, though, as we have 
seen (17), nouns and pronouns are sometimes used after them to 
complete the predicate. 

Remark.—Some verbs that express action or possession do not always have 
objects after them, while others never do. We shall learn more about this at 
another time. (97 a and 98.) 

Turn to Lesson 1, and supply modified subjects for the predicates 
in paragraph 7 and place objects after as many of the verbs as 
will take objects. 

43. How to tell the Object.— When you are in doubt as to 
what is the object of a verb, or whether it has an object at all, you 
may easily find out by reading the predicate and putting the 
question what? (or who?) after it. If there is a word that 
will answer the question, that word is the object. Thus, in the 
first example in paragraph 42, we ask “ struck what? ” Answer : 
“the tree;” and in the second example, “overturned what?” 
Answer: “the kettle”—the object . 

Remark.—Since the verb is always limited by its object, consider the object 
and its modifiers as a part of the complete predicate. Thus, in the first ex¬ 
ample above, the complete predicate is ‘ struck the tall tree in the park .’ (343.) 


PLAIN ENGLISH. 


19 


44. Sentences containing objects : [Analyze and parse.] 

i. The sun warms the earth. 2. They cheered the president. 3. Whittier 
wrote beautiful poems. 4. The late frost killed the early fruit. 5. Dark clouds 
cover the sky. 6. I have the lesson. 7. George has a fine dog. 8. You have a 
bad cold. 9. They had an enjoyable time. 10. Ye shall have peace. 

45. The principal word in adjectival and adverbial phrases 
will answer the same question after the preposition that the 
object of a verb answers after the predicate. Thus, in— 

The firm advertised for a bookkeeper, 

we may ask “ advertised for what ? ” Answera bookkeeper.” 
And in— 

He wrote a long letter to me about that matter, 

if we ask the questions “wrote to whom f ” and “wrote about 
what f” the answers will be “ me” and “matter,” the objects of 
to and about; while the question “wrote what f ” brings out the 
object of the verb,—“ letter.” The complete object is a long 
letter , while the complete predicate is ivrote a long letter to me 
about that matter. 

Point out the objects of the prepositions in the sentences in 
paragraph 41 . 

46. Direct and Indirect Objects.—Verbs of action often have 
two objects; one naming the thing that receives the action, and 
the other naming the thing indirectly affected by it. Thus, in— 

He gave me a book, The tailor made him a coat,, 

the meaning is not ‘ He gaveand ‘The tailor made him] 
but ‘He gave a book [to] me ,’ and ‘The tailor made a coat 
[for] him. In these sentences, book and coat are the DIRECT 
OBJECTS, and me and him the indirect OBJECTS. 

Remark.—The indirect object of a verb comes before the direct object, and 
its relation to the verb may be expressed by to or for. When, however, we 
supply to or for before the indirect object, the phrase thus formed follows the 
direct object, and the indirect object of the verb becomes the object of the 

J 


20 


PLAIN ENGLISH. 


preposition. To illustrate this, take the two forms of the second example ill 
paragraph 45: 

He wrote me a long letter about that matter. 

He wrote a long letter to me about that matter. 

47. Point out the direct and indirect objects of the verbs in 
the following sentences, and then change the indirect object into 
a phrase, so that it will become the object of to or for: 

The clerk sold her the goods. The proprietor showed us the letter. 

The captain told them a big yarn. His friends bought him a gold watch. 

The careless druggist gave the poor fellow the wrong medicine. 

The railway company gave all the conductors very strict orders. 

The government had been furnishing the Indians food and clothing. 

48. The objective element answers the question what ? (or 
whof) after a verb expressing action or possession. It also 
answers the question whatf (or whom?) after prepositions. (348.) 

The indirect object of a verb of action names the person or thing to (or for) 
which the act is done. 


LESSON 8. 

FORMS OF ELEMENTS. 

49 . We have seen that an element of a sentence may be 
either a word or a phrase. (346.) 

We shall see farther on that a clause (which is nearly the same 
as a sentence) may be used as an element. ( m a.) 

An element consisting of a word is a word element. 

An element consisting of a phrase is a phrase element. 

An element consisting of a clause is a clause element. 

A word, phrase, or clause element that has no modifiers is 
called a simple element; but when it has modifiers, it is called a 
complex element. 



PLAIN ENGLISH. 


21 


Two or more elements of the same kind may be joined together 
by conjunctions ; thus— 

Checks and drafts are cashed. He drinks neither tea nor coffee. 

You may ride or walk. She teaches shorthand and typewriting. 

The boys and girls play in the house and on the lawn. 

Payment in gold or bank-notes was demanded but refused. 

When two or more word or phrase elements of the same kind 
are connected in this way, they form what is called a compound 
element; and the word (a conjunction) that connects them is a 

connecting element. 

Remark.—Besides conjunctions, there are other connecting elements which 
we shall learn about at another time. (356.) 

50. Simple and Compound Sentences.— So far, we have 
studied sentences that make but one statement, or assertion; as— 

They all went to the picnic. I stayed at home and worked. 

Charles works in a factory. Henry is employed in an office. 

Such sentences are called simple. They contain but one sub¬ 
ject and one predicate each. But we frequently unite two such 
# statements into one sentence by using a conjunction ; thus— 

They all went to the picnic, but I stayed at home and worked. 

Charles works in a factory, and Henry is employed in an office. 

You must do your work better, or we shall discharge you. 

(a) When two or more simple sentences are connected in this 
way, they form what is called a compound sentence. 

51. Point out the compound elements , the connecting elements , 
and the compound sentences in the following: 

1. Silver and gold are precious metals. 2. The merry children laugh and 
play. 3. Spelling and arithmetic are practical studies. 4. Reading and writing 
should be learned in youth. 5. Greek and Latin are dead languages. 6. Those 
apples are mellow and sweet. 7. That flower is beautiful but not fragrant. 
8. They came and went in a hurry. 9. They destroyed the town with shot and 
shell. 10. In this country, the sons of the rich and poor are educated together. 
Xi. “Genuine politeness comes only by a union of inward grace and outward 
culture.” 12. A beaver can live on land or in the water. 

Remark.—Sometimes a part or all of the conjunctions are omitted. [ For the 


22 


PLAIN ENGLISH. 


punctuation in such cases, see Rule 2 for use of comma, paragraph 303, b , c , d; 
also, rule for semicolon, 312 3 .] 

13. They wash, iron, cook, eat, and sleep in the same room. 14. Wheat, corn, 
and oats are raised in this country, in India, and in Europe. 15. He went to 
school and I stayed at home. 16. They came but the work was finished. 17. The 
morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy. 

18. We silently gazed on the face of the dead, 

And we bitterly thought of the morrow. 

19. The way was long ; the wind was cold ; 

The minstrel was infirm and old. 

20. Great Nature spoke ; observant man obeyed ; 

Cities were formed ; societies were made. 

21. War and love are strange compeers. 

War sheds blood, and love sheds tears 
War has swords, and love has darts; 

War breaks heads, and love breaks hearts. 

Note to Teacher. —For further work in analyzing compound elements, tise 
the first ten sentences given for practice under Rule 2 for the comma, 303. 




LESSON 9. 

ORDER OF ELEMENTS. 

52. In the English language, the usual order of the leading 
elements in a sentence is— 

SUBJECT, PREDICATE, OBJECT; thus— 

Girls like music. 

Remark.—This order of elements is called the natural, or logical order. 
( Logical , means ‘ according to sense, or reason.’) 

(a) Adjectives usually stand before the nouns they modify; 
, thus— 

The boys generally like mental arithmetic. 

adj. n. adv. v. adj. n. 



PLAIN ENGLISH. 


23 


(b) Adverbs may be placed either before or after the verbs 
they modify ; thus— 

The old man then spoke kindly to the little child. 

adj. adj. n. adv. v. adv. prep. adj. adj. n. 

(e) When adverbs modify adjectives or other adverbs, they 
are placed before them (344); thus — 

She could read and write quite well for one so young. 

pro. v.-phrase c. v. adv. adv. prep. pro. adv. adj. 

The business affairs of some men do not, at this season, 

adj. adj. n. prep. adj. n. v. adv. prep. adj. n. 

allow them very many opportunities for rest or pleasure. 

v. pro. adv. adj. n. prep. n. c. n. 

Notice that the adverb * not,’ and the phrase ‘ at this season,’ come between 
the two parts of the predicate ‘ do allow,’ in the last sentence. 

(d) Adjectival and adverbial phrases naturally follow the 
words they limit, as shown in the sentences above. 

53. The logical order of the elements in a sentence is by no means strictly 
adhered to. Indeed, our language is so flexible that we may express the same 
thought in different ways by changing the order of the elements, especially the 
subordinate elements. However, in the assertive sentence (which is the only 
kind we have considered so far), the leading elements, subject, predicate, and 
object, usually come in that order. 

54. Rewrite the following sentences, placing the elements in 
their logical order: 

i. A mighty man was he. 2. Uneasy lies his head. 3. Blessed are the pure 
in heart. 4. Swiftly fly the twilight hours. 5. A prettier scene you never saw. 
6. A jolly old soul was he. 7. A lovelier flower on earth was never seen. 
8. Down swept the chill wind from the north. 9. Slow and sure comes up the 
golden year. 10. Beneath the arched gateway, stood a single sentinel. 
11. Silently and sadly fell the autumn leaves. 12. Seaward still flows the brook, 
clear and sparkling. 13. Louder and still louder thundered the tempest. 
14. Between Nose and Eyes, arose a strange contest. 15. Against the wall leans 
the peach tree, and over all wanders the woodbine. 

16. There, in the midst of its farms, reposed the Acadian village. 

Strongly built were the houses, with frames of oak and of hemlock. 

17. Floated the boat, with its dripping oars on the motionless water. 

Filled was Evangeline’s heart with inexpressible sweetness. (135, Note.) 


24 


PLAIN ENGLISH. 


18. Still stands the forest primeval; but under the shade of its branches 
Dwells another race, with other customs and language. 

19. — the woods against a stormy sky, 

Their giant branches tossed. 

20. Now on the place of slaughter, 

Are cots and sheepfolds seen. 

21. By the flow of the inland river, 

Asleep are the ranks of the dead. 

22. Now fades the glimmering landscape on the sight, 

And all the air a solemn stillness holds. 

23. Filled with awe was Hiawatha 
At the aspect of his father. 

On the air about him wildly 

Tossed and streamed his cloudy tresses. 

To tlie Student. —When the sentences above have been rearranged, indi¬ 
cate the elements in the following manner:* 

Draw heavy lines under the subject, predicate, and object. 

Draw a light line under each phrase beginning with a preposition. 

Make a dotted line under the connecting elements. 

Model. He preached the gospel to the poor, and He healed the sick and fed 
the hungry. {79 c.) 

Note. —When a conjunction is omitted, it may be supplied in brackets; thus— 

The wave was clear,.[ and ] the beach was bright 
With snowy shells and sparkling stones. 


:: To tlie Teacher.— This marking of the elements is not given here as a system of 
diagraming. You will notice that the adjectives and adverbs are not indicated. For beginners, 
at least, marking the leading elements (including phrases entire) is better than a complex 
system that goes into detail. Too often the latter becomes mere guess-work with the student, 
causing him to lose sight of the real object of analysis —dissection of the thought expressed. 

Transposing inverted sentences by placing their elements in logical order, is an exer¬ 
cise that may, with profit, be extended. It trains the student to see the leading elements 
at a glance, and to grasp at once the thought of the sentence,—a matter of paramount impor¬ 
tance aside from its syntactical bearing. But the real benefit of this exercise cannot be real¬ 
ized by practicing with detached sentences or single couplets.' Longer selections, in which 
there is a thread of thought running through several verses, are more profitable. Longfellow’s 
“ Evangeline,” and “ Hiawatha ” contain many excellent passages for this work. 





PLAIN ENGLISH. 


25 


LESSON lO. 

KINDS OF SENTENCES. 

55. Besides the assertive sentence (the kind used to make 
assertions, or simple statements), there are three other kinds; 
namely, interrogative, imperative , and exclamatory. The ways in 
which these sentences differ from the assertive sentence, and 
from each other, are as follows: 

56. Interrogative Sentence. —This is the question-asking 
sentence ( inter - ‘between;’ rogare , ‘to ask,’), and the way in 
which its arrangement differs from the assertive sentence is that 
the predicate, at least a part of it, usually comes before the sub¬ 
ject; thus— 

Can the boy write ? Has she a home ? 

Did they go ? How soon will he arrive ? 

( a ) In pointing out the principal elements of such sentences, 
consider them as being assertive answers to themselves ; thus— 

The boy can write. She has a home. 

They did go. He will arrive soon. 

Remark.—In sentences like the last one, the interrogative word (such as, how, why, where, 
when,) is not used in the answer ; it should be parsed as an interrogative adverb. (105.) 

( b ) Three words frequently used in asking questions are who, 
which, and what. These words are sometimes the subjects of 
interrogative sentences, and sometimes the objects. When a 
sentence beginning with either of them cannot be changed into 
an assertive answer, by using the same words and no others , the 
who , which , or what is the subject; as— 

Who bought it ? Which was there ? What ails you ? 

But when the sentence beginning with either of these words 
can be changed into the assertive form and make sense without 
using other words , the who , zvhich , or what is not the subject; as— 

Which do you prefer? What were they hunting? 

Who shall I see? For whom did you ask? 

Examples: You do prefer which ? You did ask for whom? [See 348 a.] 


26 


PLAIN ENGLISH. 


57. Imperative Sentence.—This is the kind of sentence used 
when we wish to command or make a request . The peculiar 
thing about it is that the subject is always omitted but is under¬ 
stood to be you (the person spoken to ); thus— 

[ Ycm] ‘ Bring me the hook.’ [You] ‘ Please shut the door.’ 

In such commands as— 

“ Go,” “ Forward, march,” “ Charge for the guns,” he said, 

the real'meaning is— 

‘ [You] go,’ ‘[You] march forward,’ He said, ‘[You] charge for the guns.’ 

In analyzing imperative sentences, say merely that ‘the subject 
is you, understood or that ‘ the subject is not expressed 

[ For the punctuation of assertive and imperative sentences, see paragraph 314.] 

58. We have seen that words denoting strong feeling are not 
1 parts of speech,’ being simply interjections. (31; also 340.) These 
exclamations may include several words ; as— 

O ! Absolom, my son, my son ! Eternity! Oh how long! 

But such expressions are not sentences , since they do not con¬ 
tain a verb. However, whole sentences may be used in an ex¬ 
clamatory way to denote strong feeling of some kind; as— 

O could I speak His matchless worth ! 

Oh, if I could but live my life over again ! 

Remarks.—These exclamatory sentences, when taken with their connections, 
are found to be subordinate sentences [ clauses] of condition. (188.) 

(a) The exclamatory sentence sometimes has the interrogative form to ex¬ 
press strong feeling, without any expectation of an answer; as— 

How could he act so! Who could have thought such a thing! 

( 5 ) Assertive sentences are sometimes made exclamatory in utterance, the 
order of elements remaining unchanged; thus— 

As it I could be guilty of such a thing! 

And that man talks of virtue ! 

(c) Imperative sentences or expressions are often exclamatory in their 
utterance. When written, they are followed by the sign of exclamation ; thus — 

Forward! Charge for the guns ! Don’t give up the ship ! 


PLAIN ENGLISH. 


27 


LESSON 11. 

WORD-MAKING. 

Note to Teacher.— This lesson is put here, chiefly for reference purposes 
in connection with subsequent work. It may be taken part at a time, along 
with future lessons, as indicated in paragraph 79 b. 

59 , We get the words in our language from two sources; or, 
in other words, they are of two kinds; namely— 

Those that originated zvith or in the language. 

Those that have been borrowed from other languages. 

The first kind are called Anglo-Saxon (pure English) words; 
the others are called foreign words. Both foreign and English 
words are divided into three classes : Simple, Derivative, and 
Compound. 

Remark.—These three classes have reference to the forms of words and not 
to the parts of speech to which they belong. 

GO. Simple Words are those that are not made from (or out 
of) other words, such as do, kind, seven, home, bear, zvill. 

(Simple words are also called “ root,” “ primitive,” or “ radical ” words.) 

61 . Derivative Words are those that are derived from other 
words by the use of prefixes and suffixes, as, ado, unkind, seventy, 
homely, unbearable, unwilling . 

A prefix is a syllable placed before a word; as, ado, unkind. 

A sujfix is a letter or syllable placed at the end of a word; as, hom ely, 
seven/y. Prefixes and suffixes are called affixes. 

Sometimes a prefix and suffix are both added to a word; as, unwilling, 
unbearable, unkindness. 

62 . Compound Words are those that are made by uniting 
two or more words into one; as, penholder, mankind, railway, 
bookkeeper, runaway, wood-box, Anglo-Saxon. 

63 . One peculiarity about derivative and compound words is that they 
may, and generally do, belong to a different part-of-speech from the word or 
words out of which they are made. Thus the adjective 1 truthful ’ is derived , 


28 


PLAIN ENGLISH. 


from the noun ‘ truth,’ and by the addition of another suffix we change it from 
an adjective back to a noun,— truthfulness. The noun ‘runaway’ is composed 
of the verb run and the adverb away ; the adverb ‘away’ js composed of the 
adjective a and the noun way. 

Adding prefixes and suffixes to words to form derivatives , or putting words 
together to form compound words is called comiM)sition, or word-making 1 . 
Many of our words in common use were obtained in this way and it will be 
interesting to notice how different parts of speech have thus been made. 

64. Nouns.— Derivative nouns are formed— 

1. By suffixes to adjectives, themselves either simple or derivative; as, sick¬ 
ness, happiness, eagerness, sadness, security, reality. 

2. By suffixes to simple nouns ; as, heroism, skepticism, Americanism, agri¬ 
culturist, geologist, conversationist. 

Note. —Iu this way, a few nouns are formed to denote female sex; as heroine, 
countess. In the same manner we form nouns denoting small things; as, 
seedling, duckling, gosling, booklet, leaflet. 

3. By prefixes to other nouns; as, disadvantage, inability, nonsense, un¬ 
certainty, ex-governor. 

4. By suffixes to verbs; as, writer, swimmer, flattery, impeachment. 

Note. —From verbs are derived (by the addition of the suffix ing ) a class of 
words used as the names of actions; as, singing, dancing, writing, printing. 
As will be seen hereafter, these words are not always pure nouns, being some¬ 
times nouns with verbal natures. (164.) 

Furnish nouns belonging to each of the above-mentioned classes. 

65. Compound nouns are made— 

1. By putting together two or more simple or derivative nouns ; as, crow-bar, 
postman, sidewalk, cash-boy, hand-organ, foot-ball. 

2. By prefixing an adjective to a noun which it describes; as, bluebell, white- 
face, midnight, mainsail, red-man. 

3. By suffixing a.noun to a verb ; as, driveway, feed-box, pickpocket. 

4. By suffixing the adjective full (dropping the last l) to nouns; as.handful, 
spoonful, basketful. ( 360 d. ) 

5. By prefixing a preposition to a noun or verb; as, outskirts, output, in¬ 
come, forethought, forerunner, overcomer. 

6. By prefixing a noun or a participle to a noun, the latter being described 
by the former; as, seashore, housetop, sewing-machine, carving-knife. 

7. Phrases consisting of two or more nouns used as the name of a single 
person or thing are considered as one word. Examples: Abraham Lincoln, 
James A. Garfield, Harriet Beecher Stowe. Sometimes three or more words of 


PLAIN ENGLISH. 


29 


various parts of speech are united and used as one noun ; thus, father-in-law , 
Stratford-on-Avon, Mary Queen of Scots, Alexander the Great. (211.) 

Furnish compound nouns belonging to each of these classes. 

[ For instruction in the use of the hyphen in compound words, see 319.] 

66. Pronouns. —In this part-of-speech, we have only simple 
and compound words—no derivatives. 

{a) Simple Pronouns are I, we,you, he, she, it, and they, and none, aught, 
naught, some, any, one, all, and each. The first seven of these are called personal 
pronouns (80) ; the others are called indefinites (83). 

( b ) It is true that there are other forms of these simple personal pronouns, 
such as me r us, his, him, her, them, etc. ; but while these forms are, in part (some 
of them are not), made from the simple forms given above, the change in form 
is for another purpose, and not to compose new words. (141 and 143.) 

67. Compound pronouns are made— 

1. By combining the personal pronouns w r ith the noun self (or selves ) ; thus, 
myself, himself, herself, yourself, themselves, and ourselves. 

2. By prefixing the indefinite adjectives some, any, every, and no, to one, 
thing, and body ; as, someone, something, somebody, anyone, anything. ( 144 b.) 

3. Phrases. —There are two pronoun phrases; each other and one another. 

Write all the compound pronouns you can make with the words 
given above. 

68. Adjectives.— Derivative adjectives are formed — 

1. By suffixes to nouns, as follows: handy, manly, useful, bridal, boyish, 
nervous, careless, heroic, reasonable, delightsome, earthen, forked, parental, 
commercial. 

2. By suffixes to verbs; as, movable, desirable, active, talkative, written, 
broken, defeated, bowed, sparkling, singing. 

Note .— The last six belong to a class of words that are not regarded as pure 
adjectives except when they are placed immediately before the noun they 
qualify. (87 b and 170.) 

3. By suffixes to other adjectives; as, later, latest, warmer, warmest, greenish, 
cleanly, gladsome. 

Note .— The last four of these words are, in fact, formed for the purpose of 
comparison, and not to make new words. ( 145-6.) 

4. By prefixes to other adjectives; as, unhandy, immovable, impure. 

Furnish adjectives belonging to the above-mentioned classes. 


30 


PLAIN ENGLISH. 


69. Compound adjectives are made by putting together two 
or more words of different parts of speech, as follows : 

1. A noun and an adjective; as, sea-sick, foot-sore, knee-deep, sky-blue. 

2. A noun and a verb ; as, moss-covered, snow-capped, star-spangled. 

3. An adjective and a noun , the latter having ed as an adjective suffix; as, 
hard-hearted, high-toned, light-fingered, old-fashioned. 

4. An adjective and a verb ; as, new-born, well-fed, slow-going. 

5. An adverb and a verb or an adjective ; as, everlasting, never-ending, over¬ 
anxious, full-grown, full-blown. 

6. Phrases consisting of three or more words are sometimes used as a single 
adjective ; thus, a happy-go-lucky fellow, a go-as-you-please style. 

The article a (from an) is used with many, such , what, quite, and few, to form 
adjective-phrases, thus, many a, such a, what a, quite a, and a few. It is also 
used before ‘ great many ; ’ as, A great many people were there. 

Furnish adjectives belonging to each of these classes. 

70. Verbs.— Derivative verbs are formed as follows : 

1. By prefixes: ( a) To other verbs; as, unwrap, bemoan, disown, rewrite, 
enclose, (b) To nouns ; as, embalm, enthrone, enjoy, disorder, behead. ( c ) To 
adjectives; as, belate, renew, refresh. 

2. By suffixes: {a) To adjectives ; as, purify, nullify, lighten, soften, (b) To 
nouns; as, frighten, terrorize, journalize, memorize. 

3. By both prefixes and suffixes; as, dishearten, enlighten, unfasten. 

4. By changes in the ending of nouns and adjectives ; as, qualify, electrify, 
beautify, horrify. 

Note. —Some verbs are derived from others by change of form , as ,sang from 
sing, wrote from write , came from come, talked from talk, beaten from beat. But 
as this change in the form of the verb is not for the purpose of making a new 
word, it does not really belong to composition. (162 1 .) 

71. Compound verbs are made— 

1. By prefixing a preposition to a verb, the preposition having an adverbial 
sense; as, oversee, uplift, withdraw, outshine, foretell. 

2. By prefixing a noun to a verb ; as, browbeat, water-soak, case-harden. 


PLAIN ENGLISH. 


31 


Note /.—Many nouns are used as verbs, the verbal use signifying what is done 
by or with the thing named when the word is a noun ; as, to pen a letter, to hand 
a book, to express a package, to mail a letter, to people a country, to tree a coon, 
to roof a house, to snowball a person, to copyright an article. 

Note 2.—Phrases consisting of two or more verbs are not compound verbs, 
though they are usually parsed as one word. (io.) 

Furnish verbs belonging to each of the above-mentioned classes. 

72. Adverbs.— Derivative adverbs are formed in the fol¬ 
lowing ways: 

1. By suffixes to adjectives, chiefly the suffix ly; as, dearly, fully, rarely, 
honestly. 

2. By changing the adjective suffix, ble to bly ; as, ably, nobly, feebly; ic is 
changed to ical before adding ly ; as, heroically, frantically. 

3. By the suffix ward , added to nouns and prepositions; thus, skyward, 
homeward, forward, toward, upward. 

4. By adding to adjectives or, nouns : (a) The prefix a( from on) ; as, anew, 

afresh, ahead, afoot, a-fishing. {b) The prefix be (from by)\ as, beside, 
beyond. 

Furnish adverbs belonging to the above-mentioned classes. 

73. Compound adverbs are made by union of two or more 
parts of speech, the more common being— 

1. An adjective and a noun ; as, always, sometime, otherwise. 

2. An adjective and an adjective ; as, almost, already. 

3. An adverb and an adverb ; as, henceforward, henceforth. 

4. An adverb and a preposition ; as, herewith, herein, wherefore. 

5. A preposition and an adverb ; as, forever, perhaps. 

6. A preposition and a noun; as, overhead, underside, outside. 

7. Phrases , consisting of a preposition followed by an adjective, serve the 
purpose of single adverbs ; as, in vain , of late , at last, for good. 

Furnish adverbs belonging to the above-mentioned classes. 

74. Prepositions.— Derivative prepositions are formed— 

1. From verbs ; as, during, concerning, excepting, respecting. 

2. By prefixing a to other parts of speech, chiefly nouns and adjectives ; as, 
along, around, aslant, aboard. 

Remark.—Strictly speaking, these are compound prepositions, .as the prefix 
a is from the preposition on. 


32 


PLAIN ENGLISH. 


75. Compound propositions are made— 

1. By uniting two prepositions ; as, into, upon, within, throughout. 

2. By uniting a preposition and some other part-of-speech, usually a noun 
or an adjective ; as, beside, below, between. 

3. Phrases , consisting of two or more prepositions, are often used with the 
value of a single preposition. Examples: From over, from under , because of 

Furnish prepositions and preposition-phrases, as above. 

76. Conjunctions. —As regards composition, conjunctions are not easily 
classified. They are much like the derivative and compound adverbs, many of 
which are used conjunctively. [ See ito a and Note; also 113. ] 

( a) Phrases , consisting of two or more words, are used as conjunctions with 
an adverbial sense. They are such as, except that , in order that , inasmuch as. 


LESSON 12. 

KINDS OF NOUNS. 

77. In previous lessons, we have been analyzing sentences and 
classifying words according to what they do. We have found 
that there are eight classes of words, as follows : 

f. Nouns. —Words that name things. (4 a.) 

2. Pronouns. —Words that mention things without naming them. (ir.) 

3. Adjectives. —Words that limit orqualify nouns and pronouns. ( 15.) 

4. Verbs.— Words that assert existence, action, or possession. (4 b , 332.) 

5. Adverbs.— Words that modify verbs, adjectives, and adverbs. (20.) 

6. Prepositions. —Words placed before nouns and pronouns to form ad¬ 
jectival and adverbial phrases. ( 26-7.) 

7. Conjunctions.— Words that join words, phrases, and sentences. (29.) 

8. Independent words, consisting of interjections and a few words used 
merely to introduce sentences. (31, Note.) 




PLAIN ENGLISH. 


33 


78. So far, we have been calling all names simply nouns. All 
words used as substitutes for names we have called pronouns. All 
asserting words we have classed as verbs. But now we shall see 
there are different kinds of nouns, different kinds of pronouns, 
different kinds of verbs, and so on with all the parts of speech 
except the preposition. In the sentence— 

‘ Henry is the smallest boy in school,’ 

we have two nouns referring to the same person, ‘ Henry ,’—‘ boy] 
but you can see they are different kinds of names. The word 
‘ boy ’ is a name that may be applied to each of the boys in school, 
while the other name does not belong to anyone but Henry; it is 
properly his own name. In the sentence, ‘New York is a large 
city.’ The name, ‘ New York,’ is the proper , or particidar name 
of a certain city, while the word ‘ city ’ is a name that may be 
applied to other places besides New York. So, in the sentences—•. 

Dr. Wilson is a noted physician , Pike's Peak is a high mountain , 

The Mississippi is a long river , Texas is a large state , 

February is the shortest month , 

the names, Dr. Wilson, Mississippi, Texas, Pike’s Peak, and 
February are said to be proper nouns, for the reason that they 
are names that belong only to those persons or objects. In these 
sentences, the words ‘ physician,’ ‘ river,’ ‘ mountain,’ ‘ state,’ and 
‘ month ’ are names that may be applied to each one of a class of 
objects ; hence, they are called common nouns. ( Common means 
‘ applying, or belonging to many.’) 

Write the following names in two columns, one headed proper 
NOUNS, the Other, COMMON NOUNS : [ See Rule 5 for capitals, 323. ] 

george, man, apple, horse, columbus, ohio, january, town, atlantic, month, 
lizzie, james, niagara, canal, england, country, ocean, indian, rocky mountains, 
city, detroit, Charles, son, school, people, german, hat, language, paris, Septem¬ 
ber, day, friday, dog, rover, Chicago, wealth, money, doctor, henry, paper, 
john smith, tribune, flower, harper’s ferry. 

Write ten proper nouns from memory and twenty common 
nouns, names of things in or about the school-room. 


34 


PLAIN ENGLISH . 


79. A great many of our common nouns are names of things that we can¬ 
not see or handle; such as, truth, pleasure, noise, perfume, flavor, knowledge, 
size. Others are the names of actions or deeds, as, singing, talking, fishing. 

Examples : Crying will not help the matter. Fishing is fine sport. 

(a) Still other common nouns are the names of qualities, feelings, etc. ; as, 
sweetness, happiness, shrewdness, anger, strength, beauty, honesty. These 
nouns are usually formed from adjectives (64 1 ) and are called abstract 
nouns. Form such nouns from the following words : 

Soft, harsh, rough, smooth, cruel, brave, humble, severe, able, responsible, 
hasty, heavy, sour, sharp, glad, righteous, willing, broad, deep, high, long. 

( b) Furnish nouns like those in classes 2, 3, and 4, in paragraph 64; also 
compound nouns like those in each of the groups in paragraph 65. * 

(c) Adjectives sometimes become nouns by being used as the names of the 
objects they describe; as, “ I would feed the hungry and clothe the poor .” 

( d ) Some common nouns are the names of groups or collections of things ; 
as, pair, crowd, score, family, squad, gang, swarm, flock, herd, jury, army, 
committee. These are called collective nouns. 

( e) Nouns denoting time, measure, value, direction, or distance, when 
added to verbs, adjectives, and adverbs, are called adverbiau nouns. ( 109 . ) 

Examples : He talked an hour. We ran a mile. The grass is a foot high. 

How many common and how many proper nouns can you find in the story of 
“Judge Grammar’s Court,” page 51 ? 


LESSON 13. 

KINDS OF PRONOUNS. 

A pronoun, as we have seen (n), is a word that mentions a 
thing without naming it. 

80. Personal Pronouns.— A few pronouns show whether they 
represent the person speaking , the person spoken to , or the person 
spoken of. Hence, they are called personae pronouns and are 
said to be of the first , second , or third person. (345-) 


To tlie Teacher.— Not to be required of the class unless Eesson 10 was omitted. 




PLAIN ENGLISH. 


35 


1. The first person pronouns are./ and we. 

2. The only second person pronoun is you (or thou. ) 

3. The third person pronouns are he, she, they, and it. 

81 . The personal pronouns given above are used as subjects 
of sentences and in the predicate after a copula, but most of them 
have other forms that are used as objects. They are : First per¬ 
son, me, us; second person, (thee); third person, him, her, them. 

(a) There are still other forms of the personal pronouns used 
when we wish to show which person a thing belongs to. They 
are: First person, my, mine, our, ours; second person, your, 
yours (thy, thine ) ; third person, his, her, hers, their, theirs, and 
its. (346.) 

Note. —These last forms of the personal pronouns are called possessives. We 
shall learn more about them, and the object forms in a future lesson. 

Remark.— Thou , thee , thy, and thine are old English forms which are now 
rarely met with except in the Bible and in poetry. They are still used in seri¬ 
ous forms of address, especially in prayer. 

82 . Relative Pronouns.—Three pronouns, who, which, and 

that, are often used to refer (‘ relate ’) to some noun or pronoun in 
the same sentence ; thus— 

He is the man who did the work. Did you see the boy that was hurt ? 

* He once owned the house which (or that ) stands on the hill yonder. 

Since these words, ‘who,’ ‘which,’ and ‘that,’ relate to some 
other word, they are called RELATIVES ; and because that “ other 
word ” generally comes before the relative, it is called the ante¬ 
cedent, ( ante- ‘ before ; ’ cedent, ‘ going.’) Thus in the sentences 
above, man, boy, and house are the antecedents of who, which, and 
that. (347 a. ) 

( a ) Who has two other forms ( whose and whom ) which are 
used as relatives ; thus— 

He is the man to ivhovi I refer. He is the man whose house was burned. 

Remark.—Relative pronouns are also called conjunctive pronouns. (356c.) 


36 


PLAIN ENGLISH. 


(b) The antecedent of who is sometimes omitted ; thus—• 

[ He ] Who does the best his circumstances allows 

Does well, acts nobly, angels could do no more. 

(c) The antecedent of which may be a phrase or a whole 
clause ; thus— 

The speaker did not arrive, which greatly disappointed the audience. 

He is known to be perfectly honest , which is saying a great deal. 

( d ) The relative itself is often omitted ; thus— 

These are the flowers [that] she gave me. 

The book [which] you sent me is very interesting. 

83. Indefinite Pronouns.— A pronoun that does not point out 
a person or relate to some definite person or object is an indefi¬ 
nite pronoun. This class includes— 

( a) The following words always used as pronouns: i, none, aught, 

naught; 2, the compounds of some, any, every, and no, with one, thing, and 

body (67 2 ) ; 3, the phrases each other, and one another. 

It is often used indefinitely as the subject of such sentences, as, It snows. 
It blows. With the indefinites, may also be classed the word thing. ( 334 b .) 

(b) The interrogative pronoun who (whom and whose), and the interroga¬ 
tive adjectives which and what, when not followed by the noun about which the 
question is asked. (90.) Examples: Who was it? Whose are they ? Of whom 
did you inquire ? Which came ? What will you have ? 

(c) Who (whose and whom), which, and what, when used to introduce noun 
clauses. (120.) Examples: Do you know who came? I could not tell which 
was right. He did not know what he wanted. I do not know whose 
they are. 

(d) Certain indefinite adjectives when used as pronouns. (92.) 

84. Adjectn r e Pronouns. —When a word that is usually an ad¬ 
jective is used by itself to represent a thing, it becomes a pronoun 
and is called an adjective-pronoun. ( 93 .) 

To this class belong the indefinites mentioned above (83 d) ; also the demon¬ 
stratives this, that, former, latter , and same (89) ; and the interrogative adjec¬ 
tives which and what. (91.) 


PLAIN ENGLISH. 


37 


85. We find that who , which , that , and what have a variety of 
uses, as follows : 

(a) The first three are relatives when they follow some noun 
or pronoun to which they relate. ( 82 .) 

Remark.— Who is used to relate to persons; which , to things (including in¬ 
fants) ; while that relates to either persons or things. That after and is a 
relative if who or which will take the place of both words, “ and that.” (347 c.) 

(b) Who (whom) when not a relative is always an indefinite. 

( c ) Which when not a relative is an indefinite if used with¬ 
out a noun. 

(d) What when not used with a noun is an indefinite. 

( e ) Which (whose) and what when followed by nouns are 
adjectives,—interrogative (qi) or indefinite. (92 a.) 

(f) That , besides being a relative, is sometimes an adjective- 
pronoun ( 84 ), sometimes a conjunction ( 115 ), and sometimes a 
mere introductory word. (31, Note, and 207.) 

86. Parse the italicized words in the following fable, by telling 
to which class of pronouns each belongs: 

An old farmer who was at the point of death sent for his son, who was an idle, 
careless fellow. When the son came, his father said : “ / fear that you will 

soon spend all your money; but / will tell you what you must do when you find 

that you have nothing. There is a treasure in the ground-” “ Who put it 

there ? To whom does it belong? In what part of the farm is it? What shall 
I do to get it ? ” eagerly inquired the son. “ You will find it if you dig for zV,” 
answered his father ; “ but / will not tell you who put it there, nor where it is.” 
Soon after this the farmer died. The young man forgot everything about the 
treasure till the money which had been left him was all gone. Then he remem¬ 
bered what his father had told him to do. So he worked away and dug every¬ 
where about the farm. He did not find the treasure that he was hunting, but 
his digging enriched the ground so that it brought forth a double crop ; and 
that was as good as a treasure. After this he became an industrious man and 
prospered as his father had prospered before him. 


38 


PLAIN ENGLISH. 


LESSON 14. 

KINDS OF ADJECTIVES. 

87. * Most of the adjectives in our language are words added 
to nouns to limit or qualify them by describing the person or 
object named; as,— 

A good apple, a high price, a valuable horse, an honest man, the short method, 
Japanese fans, the French fleet, the Russian army, the American flag. These 
are called descriptive adjectives. They answer the questions which? and 
what kind? 

(a) Descriptive adjectives derived from proper nouns, as ‘Japanese, 
‘French,’ ‘Russian,’ ‘American,’ are called proper adjectives. [See Rule 8 for 
capitals, 323. ] 

( b) Some descriptive adjectives are derived from verbs ; as, a shining light, 
a boiling spring, a rippling stream, startling news. ( 68 2 , Note.) 

(c) Nouns are often used as descriptive adjectives; as, a lead pipe, a. stone 
wall, a brass door-knob, an oak tree. 

Besides the descriptives, there are the following kinds of adjec¬ 
tives : 

88 . Numerals. —These are such as one , four , ten, thirty, 
answering the question how many ? Also such as second , fifth , 
twentieth , answering the question which ? 

Remark.—Numerals sometimes become pronouns. “ Where two or three are 
gathered together in my name,” etc. “ The fourth was better than the third. ” 

89. Demonstratives. —( Demonstrate —‘ to point out.’) There 
are five demonstratives: this (these), that (those), yonder, 
former , latter , and same. 

These and those are but different forms of this and that. (150.) 

This and these are used to point out things near by ; that and those to point 
out, or refer to things farther away ; former and latter , to show which of two 
things already mentioned is referred to ; same refers to something just spoken 
of. The demonstratives answer the question which ? When the name of the thing 
referred to is not given in the sentence they become adjective-pronouns. (84.) 

90. Articles. —Two adjectives, an (or a) and the, are called 

ARTICLES. (349.) 


PLAIN ENGLISH . 


39 


(<z ) The word ‘ an ’ (or a) is a weak form of the numeral one ; but unlike 
the numerals it does not answer the question how many? nor yet the ques¬ 
tion zvhich ? excepting in an indefinite way ; as— 

An accident happened. A man was killed. A sad sight. 

Hence, an is called the indefinite article. [See 150 a. ] 

( b ) The is but a weakened form of the demonstrative that. It is called the 
definite article because it points out in a more definite way. (349 a. ) 

Examples : The accident happened yesterday. The sight was a sad one. 

91 . Interrogatives.— Which , what , and whose ) when used be¬ 
fore the name of the thing about which a question is asked, are 
INTERROGATIVE ADJECTIVES. 

Examples: Which desk do you prefer? What book do you want? Whose 
house was burned ? 

But when the noun is omitted, which , what , and zvhose are 
interrogative, indefinite pronouns. (83^.) 

Examples : Which do you prefer ? What do you want ? Whose was that ? 

92 . Indefinites. — Each , every , either , neither , some , any, many , 
much , few , all , both , and 710 are called indefinite adjectives . 
Most of them answer the question which ? or how many ? in an 
indefinite way. When they are used as pronouns, as all of them 
are except every , they are indefinite. (83.) 

( a ) The interrogatives which , whose , and what , when used 
to modify nouns without asking questions, are indefinites . 

Examples : He did not know which road to take. I do not know at what time 
he will arrive. She did not know whose advice to follow. 

93 . Pronominals.—We have seen that numerals (88), the 
demonstratives (89), the interrogatives (91), and the indefinites, 
except every (92), are sometimes used as pronouns. They are 
pronouns when they stand alone to represent things, but adjectives 
when they stand with nouns to limit them. On account of this 
double use, they are called pronominal adjectives , or ad - 

JECTIVE-PRONOUNS. [ 84 and 350. ] 

Furnish adjectives belonging to each of the classes mentioned 
in paragraphs 68 and 69. 


40 


PLAIN ENGLISH 


94. How to distinguish Pronouns from Adjectives.— 

( a ) Sometimes an adjective is used without its noun to avoid 
the repetition of the noun in the same sentence ; thus— 

That piece is good, but this [piece] is better. Several boys applied,but only 
three [boys] were employed. Which [problem] of these problems did you 
solve ? These plums are good, but those [ plums] are better. 

In such cases, the omitted nouns are said to be “understood,” 
They can be supplied after their adjectives, from the same sen¬ 
tence. ( 35 i.) 

( b ) But when you cannot supply the noun (or pronoun) 
from the same sentence , the word that takes its place is a pronoun . 

Examples : These are good, but those are better. Each was positive, but 
neither was right. Many are called, but few are chosen. Which do you prefer ? 

95. Tell which of the italicised words in this and the following 
sentences are adjectives, and which are pronouns : 

1. Some persons think one thing and some think another. 2. Some persons 
work while others sleep. 3. Many believe this while only a few believe that. 
4. Merchants compete with each other for our trade. 5. We have sold several 
of this kind and a few of the other. 6. If you know of any for sale, write to 
us at once. 7. Of all the goods we handle, these are the best. 8. I11 all our 
stock, we have nothing cheaper than those. 9. Our firm can now compete .with 
any in the country. 10. Their prices compare favorably with those of other 
houses. 11. We cannot employ any but competent workers. 12. We handle 
none but first-class goods, and we guarantee satisfaction to those who buy 
of us. 13. They are kind to all in their employ. 14. We have a score of ap¬ 
plications from such as he. 15. He thought while others talked. 16. Each 
blames the other. 17. She likes this , but I prefer the other. 18. Both made 
application, but neither was successful. 19. Nothing could please us better 
than that. 20. They watch one another , but neither thinks the other knows it. 

21. We recommend the higher-priced machine, but we will furnish you either. 

22. Either one thing or the other must be done. 23. First one thing and then 
another prevented my writing. 24. The same that has been said of-others may 
be said of him. 25. What you say is true, but the same thing may be said of 
other business undertakings. 26. Which of the buildings have you leased? 
27. Which of the two is the more business-like? 28. What are you going to 
do about it? 29. The latter plan should be adopted because the former is im¬ 
practicable at this time. 30. The cry of danger to the Union was raised to 
divert their assaults upon the Constitution. It was the latter and not the Jormer 
which was in danger. 


PLAIN ENGLISH. 


41 


LESSON 15. 

KINDS OF VERBS. 

96 . We have already learned (46) that verbs are the words 
that do the asserting, and we have noticed the importance of this 
part-of-speech as an element. All the other parts of speech to¬ 
gether cannot express a thought without the help of a verb. 
Indeed, the very importance of these words gave them their name 
in the first place; for, on account of their importance, the Latins, 
or Romans, used to call them verba, which meant ‘ the word.’ 
The verbs in our language have a certain difference of use which 
divides them into two general classes. 

97 . Transitive Yerbs.—Some verbs require an object to show 
their full meaning ; as— 

The officer caught [the thief]. She found [a purse]. 

The player struck [the ball]. They have [a piano]. 

In these sentences, the italicized words in the brackets are called 
objects. They each name the person or object that receives the 
action expressed by the verb. (42.) And since the action passes 
from the subject over to the object, these verbs are said to be 
Transitive, which means 1 going over.’ You will notice that 
when we leave off the words in the brackets, the sentences are 
not complete; that is, there seems to be a part of the thought 
unexpressed. 

(a) But not all transitive verbs require the object to be expressed, for many 
of them will make sense without it; thus— 

Henry studies. She sang. The children played. He teaches. 

Such expressions make sense, and are therefore sentences ; yet the meaning 
of the verb can hardly be said to be complete, for we may reasonably ask (and 
often do ) such questions as, ‘ Henry studies what? ' ‘ He teaches what?'' And 

the answer to the question would be the object of the verb; as— 

‘Henry studies algebra.' ‘ She sang alto.' ‘ The children played croquet.' 

Hence, we conclude that though a transitive requires an object to complete 
its meaning, the object need not always be expressed. 


42 


PLAIN ENGLISH. 


98 . Intransitive Yerbs.—Many verbs denoting action do not 
require an object to complete their meaning. They express 
a meaning completely. 

Examples: It grows. He laughs. The baby prattles. The boys quarrel. 

We cannot turn these sentences into sensible questions and 
ask— 

‘ It grows what? * ‘ He laughs what? ’ ‘ The baby prattles what ? ’ 

Such verbs as grow , laugh , prattle , quarrel , cannot take ob¬ 
jects after them, and for this reason they are called intransitive. 

99 . We have, then, these definitions : 

1. A transitive verb requires an object to complete its meaning, 

though the object may be unexpressed. 

2 . An intransitive verb cannot take an object.* 

The same verb may te either transitive or intransitive, accord¬ 
ing to the way it is used. 

Examples: The sun melts the snow. The snow melts rapidly. The farmer 
burns wood. That wood bumis slowly. 

100. How to tell Transitive from Intransitive Yerbs. 

( a ) If the verb represents the subject as acting , read the 
predicate of the sentence and put the question zvhat ? after it. 
If it makes a sensible question, the verb is transitive and the 
answer to the question will be the object. ( 43.) 

Examples : The girls study what? The lawyer charges what? The fisher¬ 
man caught what? Farmers raise what? 

( b ) If the question whatf would not make sense after the 
predicate, the verb is intransitive. 

Examples : The stars shine. The water plows. She lingers. It snows. They 
were sick of it. That man is reckless. I am happy. 

You see that it would not make a sensible question to put 
what ? after these predicates ; as— 

The stars shine what? That man is reckless what? 

*To this there is an exception which, however, should not be intruded at this point. (218.) 



PLAIN ENGLISH. 


43 


Note. —The last of the examples in (£) have predicates consisting of a copula 
and an adjective. By applying the test to such sentences, you can see that 
copula verbs are always intransitive. The pure copula verbs are be , am, is, 
are, was, were. (16 a) Besides these, a few other intransitive verbs and verb- 
phrases are frequently used copulatively. The principal ones are seem, appear , 
become, look, feel, taste, smell , and the phrases formed by putting other verbs 
before them. (352.) 

101. Passive Yerb-phrases. —The object of a transitive verb 
may become the subject of a verb-phrase in a sentence express¬ 
ing the same thought. Thus— 

‘ The horse kicked that man,’ may be changed to ‘ That man was kicked by 
the horse.’ 

In the last sentence, the form of the predicate shows that the 
subject receives the action. This is called the passive form of 
the predicate to distinguish it from the ACTIVE form given in the 
first sentence. (353.) 

(a) The active form of assertion represents the subject as being the actor — 
the one acting; the passive form represents the subject as receiving the action. 
( Passive means ‘ receiving.’) 

102. Change the following predicates from the active to the 
passive form: 

The cashier counted the money. They paid their notes last week. 

We employed two bookkeepers. A stenographer reported the speeches. 

The clerk’s employer discharged him. A committee drafted resolutions. 

Parse the verbs in the sentences in paragraph 95, by telling 
which are transitive and which are intransitive . 

Furnish verbs belonging to each of the classes mentioned in 
paragraphs 70 and 71. 

Point out thirty verbs and verb-phrases in the fable on page 5. 


44 


PLAIN ENGLISH. 


LESSON 16. 

CLASSES OP ADVERBS. 

103 . We have learned that as the words added to nouns to 
limit or qualify them are called ‘ adjectives,’ so the words added 
to verbs to limit or modify them are called ‘ adverbs.’ We have 
seen also that adverbs modify adjectives and other adverbs. (20.) 
They may modify even prepositions and conjunctions. ( 354.) 

104 . Instead of speaking of the kinds of adverbs, we shall 
consider them in classes, as answering the following questions: 

How? When? Where? Why? How far? or In what degree ? 

(a) Adverbs answering how? are such as— or, so, thus, somehow, hastily. 

(b) Answering to when? are such as— now, then, soon, there, never, here¬ 
after, always, seldom, frequently. 

(c) Answering to where? are— here, there, yonder,hence, down, out, above. 

( d ) Answering why ? are—hence, therefore, accordingly. 

( e) Answering the question how far? are— much, no, none, nothing 
almost, scarcely, hardly, quite, very, too, little, more, greatly. 

Note— The same adverb may, in different connections, answer the different 
questions according to its meaning. 

(/) Still other adverbs cannot be said to answer any of these questions. 
They are such as— indeed, certainly, verily, truly, surely, not, perhaps, possibly. 

Remark—These last are sometimes called modal adverbs ( mode , ‘ manner,’) 
because they show the manner in which the assertion or statement is made. 
Not and no (also none ) are sometimes called negative adverbs. 

105 . How , when, where, why , when used in asking questions 
(see examples above), are called interrogative adverbs. But 
these and certain other adverbs often becotjie conjunctions with¬ 
out losing much, if any, of their adverbial force. They are then 
called conjunctive-adverbs , or adverbial-conjunctions. 

106 . Many adverbs are regularly made from nouns and ad¬ 
jectives by prefixes and suffixes (72), and they may generally be 



PLAIN ENGLISH. 


45 


known by their form. Furnish adverbs belonging to each of the 
classes mentioned in paragraphs 72 and 73. 

(a) Some adjectives are used as adverbs without change of 
form ; thus— 

Better, little, late, far, hard, further, first, last, long, short, fast, much, more, 
high. (243, Note. ) Some of these, however, at times take the ending ly, 
but with a change in meaning. 

107. Certain phrases have come to be used and regarded as 
single adverbs. ( 73 7 - ) They are such as— 

Of course, of late, for good, of old, at all, at length, ere long, in vain, in 
general, as usual, by and by, over and over, again and again, through and 
through, hand in hand, to and fro, up and down. 

108 . Yes and no were formerly used as adverbs, but they are no longer re¬ 
garded as such, being in themselves complete answers. (355.) 

(a ) The adverbial force of there is lost when that word is used as an indefi¬ 
nite subject of a sentence ; (31, Note) as— 

There is some mistake about it. There were uonejkere. 

( b ) So, well, and why also lose their adverbial force when used merely to 
introduce sentences. 

109 . Nouns denoting time, distance , measure , value , or direc¬ 
tion are also used adverbially to qualify verbs, adjectives, and 
adverbs. (217.) 

Example : They were gone a month and travelled a thousand miles. (79 e) 

Point out the adverbs in the sentences at (b), paragraph 40, 
and those in the fable on page 71, telling what question each 
one answers. Also point out the adverbial nouns in the sentences 
in paragraph 217. 


46 


PLAIN ENGLISH. 


LESSON 17. 

KINDS OF CONJUNCTIONS. 

110. Co-ordinate.—We have noticed the use of the conjunc¬ 
tions to connect compound elements and compound sentences. The 
words most commonly used in this way are— 

and, but, or, nor, 

and they &re called co-ordinate conjunctions ( co-ordinate ) 
means 4 of equal rank or order.’) By turning to Lesson 8, you 
will see that these words, 4 and] 4 but] 4 or] 4 nor] are used to 
connect words, phrases and sentences of the same kind or rank. 
For instance, in the first sentence,'(49)— 

Checks and drafts are cashed, 

the word drafts is just as much the subject as checks , but no 
more so. Either of these words can be omitted and the other 
will make a subject for the,sentence. This shows that the words 
are of equal importance, or of the same rank in the sentence, 
neither one depending upon the other. In the same manner, 
ride and walk ( 2 d sentence, 49 ), words of the same kind {verbs) 
are connected by or ) and the same word is used ( 6 th sentence) 
to connect the two adjectival phrases, 4 in gold ’ and 4 in bank¬ 
notes.’ Likewise, the word but connects (50) the simple 
sentences— 

They all went to the picnic but I stayed at home and worked. 

And since neither of these sentences depends on the other for its 
meaning, they are of the same rank; therefore but is a co-ordi¬ 
nate conjunction. 

( a ) Besides those given above, the following co-ordinate conjunctions are 
more or less used : Also, accordingly, besides, consequently, else, furthermore, 
hence, however, moreover, nevertheless, notwithstanding, otherwise, so, still, 
then, therefore, yet, etc. 

Note. —It must be understood, however, that these words are not always 
conjunctions, for some of them, at times, are pure adverbs. (105.) 


PLAIN ENGLISH. 


47 


111. Subordinate.— A great many of our conjunctions are 
used in a way quite different from and, but, or, and nor, as ex¬ 
plained above. To illustrate, take the following sentence : 

He paid the bill before it was due. 

Here we have two statements joined together by the word 
before; but you will notice that the second statement, ‘ it was 
due,’ is used to tell something about the first. It answers the 
question when ? in reference to his paying the bill. We have 
seen ( 104 b) that words answering the question when ? are 
adverbs ; therefore the statement ‘ it was due ’ must have an 
adverbial use in this sentence. 

To make the above still more clear, let us take the sentence, 

He paid the bill promptly , 

in which the word ‘ promptly ’ is an adverb modifying the verb ‘ paid,’ and 
answering the question when ? 

Now by expandin promptly into a phrase, we have— 

He paid the bill on time , 

and the phrase answers the same question, when? 

Again, we may expand the phrase by saying— 

He paid the bill when it was due , 

which shows clearly that the statement ‘ it was due ’ is an adverbial element 
modifying paid , and it is connected with that word by when , a conjunctive- 
adverb. (105.) 

( a ) But there is one difference between this adverbial 
element, ‘ it was due,' and the other elements'we have learned 
about; it contains a subject and predicate of its own. It is the 
subject, and was due the predicate. But it is not a sentence ; it 
is only an element in a longer sentence. When an element of a 
sentence contains within itself a subject and predicate, it is called 
a clause, and the word that connects it to the word it modifies is 
called a subordinate conjunction. You may generally know 
a subordinate conjunction by the fact that it introduces a clause 
that will answer some one of the questions usually answered by 
adverbs. ( 22. ) 


48 


PLAIN ENGLISH. 


112. The most common subordinate conjunctions are— 

1. Those denoting time —answering when ? how long? how often? 

Examples: When, while, as, before, ere, since, after, whenever, till, until. 

2. Those denoting place —answering where? as, Where, whence, whither. 

3. Those expressing reason —answering why ? 

Examples : Because, for, since, as, so, wherefore, that, lest. 

As also expresses manner—answering how? Example: You do as I do. 

4. Those expressing condition —answering on what condition ? 

Examples : If, unless, except, provided. 

5. As and than are called “conjunctions of comparison.” 

113 . Certain conjunction-phrases (76 a) are also adverbially 
used and are to be regarded as adverbial conjunctions. They are— 

As if, as though, but also, but likewise, whether or, so that, except that, inas¬ 
much as, notwithstanding that, as if though, in order that, as well as, (35 ya,) 
as far as, so far as, as little as, etc. 

Write sentences, using the above-mentioned conjunctions and phrases. 

114 . Correlatives. —Certain words (adverbs and adjectives) when used 
to introduce compound elements, require certain conjunctions to follow them to 
connect those elements. Thus— 

Both is followed by and; as— Both ( adj.) wheat and corn are exported. He 
was both (adv.) hasty and unwise. 

Either is followed by or ; neither by nor ; as— Either (adj.) James or John 
will go. He was always either (adv.) too fast or too slow. Neither (adj.) he 
nor I knew your intentions. It is neither (adv.) too warm nor too cold. 

Words used in pairs in this way are called correlatives (‘ having mutual 
relation,’) and the last word of the pair is called a correlative conjunction. (355 b.) 

Other correlative conjunctions with the words they follow are : Not—nor,, 
as—as, so—as, if—then, though—yet, not only—but, as well—as, etc. 

115 . That when used as a pure conjunction means ‘ in order that; ’ as, 

They fought that they might have peace. 

[For other uses of that , see paragraphs 85 f and 123 a.] 


PLAIN ENGLISH. 


49 


116 . Conjunctions are used to introduce sentences and connect them in 
thought to what goes before. The words most used in this way are the co¬ 
ordinates, and and but, and the subordinates, so, for, now , then, therefore, 
wherefore, however, nevertheless, so then, etc. 

Point out the conjunctions in the fables in paragraphs 86 and 

172. 


LESSON 18. 

ANALYSIS OP COMPLEX SENTENCES. 

To the Teacher. —The full analysis of complex sentences should not be 
taken up until the work of this lesson has been gone over in outline. [ See 
directions concerning analysis, paragraphs 124-5. ] 

117. We saw in our last lesson that clauses may be used to 
modify or limit a verb, the same as an adverb or adverbial phrase. 
Such a clause, then, is an adverbial clause. 

Adverbial clauses generally express some fact as to time , place , 
reason , manner , etc., answering to the questions when? where? 
why ? how ? etc. They are connected to the word they modify 
by subordinate conjunctions, or by conjunctive adverbs (105) ; as— 

They have paid it since you saw them. 

The train arrived while we were standing there. 

It happened just as we were leaving. 

She found the letter where she had left it. 

He did as he was told because he was threatened. 

I must go as (because) they will need my assistance. 

They will depend upon you, therefore you must go. 

They will pay the check if you present it promptly. 

We will prepay the charges provided cash accompanies the order. 

118. Adjectival Clauses.—Clauses may also be used to take 
the place of adjectives or adjectival phrases limiting nouns or 
pronouns; thus— 

Conscientious men are needed in every walk of life. 

Men of conscience are needed in every walk of life. 

Men who are conscientious are needed in every walk of life. 



50 


PLAIN ENGLISH. 


The adjective ‘ conscientious ’ in the first sentence is expanded 
into an adjectival phrase in the second, and into a clause in the 
third. So the clause, 1 who are conscientious,’ does the work of 
an adjective, and is, therefore, an adjectival clause. 

(a) Change the adjectival clauses in the following sentences 
into phrases, or reduce them to single words: 

A thing that is beautiful is a joy forever. 

A tree that has no leaves has but little beauty. 

Some men that are wealthy are yet very poor. 

A person who is hopeful looks on the side that is bright. 

A man who is fearless always defends a cause that is righteous. 

119 . Notice that adjectival clauses begin with the relative 
pronouns, who , which , and that; and while they serve as connect¬ 
ive elements (joining the subordinate clauses to the words they 
limit), these relatives are also used as the subjects in the subordi¬ 
nate clauses. But they are not always so used; they are quite 
frequently used as objects of verbs or prepositions; thus— 

Are these the books that you selected ? 

This is the one to which I referred. 

He is the man of whom I was speaking. 

There are few men of whom that can be said. 

It was a sight the like of which I had never seen. 

That is the house in which he formerly lived. 

120 . Subordinate clauses are used not only as adjectival and 
adverbial elements, but they are also freely used to take the 
place of nouns. And this they do in any place in the sentence, 
except as a possessive modifier—that is, we may have a subject 
clause, a predicate clause, or an object clause ; but we do not 
have possessive clauses. Clauses used as subject or object ele¬ 
ments, or in the predicate after copula verbs, are noun clauses, 
because they occupy the place usually occupied by nouns. 

121 . Examples of noun clauses used as subjects: 

That he is honest is admitted by all. 

That the boy is innocent is the general opinion. 

That the undertaking will be a success is doubted by many. 

That the note was fraudulently obtained was the defense. 


PLA/jV ENGLISH. 


51 


122 . Noun clauses used as objects : 

All admit that he is honest. 

He told me that you were expecting to go. 

Do you know who called yesterday ? 

He talked to me about what had happened. 

123 . Noun clauses in the predicate : 

The general opinion is that the boy is honest. 

The results are not what we expected. 

His defense was that the note was fraudulently obtained. 

Remark.—We shall find farther on that noun clauses are used in still another 
way. (212.) 

(a) That is used in a peculiar way to introduce noun clauses. [See ex¬ 
amples above.] In such cases it is neither a conjunction nor a relative pro¬ 
noun, but merely an introductory word (31 , Note) used before the clause in 
much the same way that the and an are used before nouns. (358.) 

124. Complex Sentences. —Sentences containing noun clauses, 
adverbial clauses, or adjectival clauses are called complex SEN¬ 
TENCES. If a compound sentence (50 a) contains such a clause it 
is called a compound-complex sentence. 

Note. —In analyzing complex sentences, first treat the whole subordinate 
clause as though it w r ere a single word (a noun, an adjective, or an adverb, as 
the case may be); then analyze the subordinate clause as if it were a sentence 
by itself. 

125 . Analyze the complex sentences given in paragraphs 117 
to 123 of this lesson; then analyze the sentences given in 
paragraph 95. Point out the complex sentences and tell how the 
subordinate clauses are used in the following story: 

JUDGE GRAMMAR’S COURT. 

Now, as some of these Parts-of-Speech have more words than others, and as 
they all like to have as many as they can get, it follows, I am sorry to say, that 
they are rather given to quarreling; and so it happened one day, when my 
story begins, they made so much noise, wrangling and jangling in the court, 
that they woke Judge Grammar up from a long and very comfortable nap. 

“ What is all this about ? ” he growled out, angrily. “ Brother Parsing! Dr. 
Syntax ! here! ” 


52 


PLAIN ENGLISH. 


In an instant the Judge’s two learned counsellors were by his side. 

Sergeant Parsing (“ Brother Parsing,” the Judge calls him,) has a sharp nose, 
bright eyes, a little round wig with a tail to it, and an eye-glass. He is very 
quick and cunning in finding out who people are and what they mean, and mak¬ 
ing them tell “ the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.” It is of 
no use to say “I don’t know” to Sergeant Parsing. He will question you, and 
question you, till somehow or other he makes you know, for that is his business, 
and that is why Judge Grammar summoned him. Whenever there is a fuss in 
Grammarland, Sergeant Parsing has to find out all about it, and Dr. Syntax has 
to say what is right or wrong, according to the law. 

“ Brother Parsing,” said the Judge, “ this racket must be stopped. What are 
they fighting about ? I divided the word's clearly enough once amongst the 
Parts-of-Speech. Why cannot they keep the peace ? ” 

# “My lord,” answered Sergeant Parsing, “the fact is that it is a long time 
since you portioned out the words, and the Parts-of-Speech since then have been 
left to do pretty much as they like. Some of them are greedy, and have stolen 
their neighbors words. Some of them have got hold of new words, which 
others say they had no right to make ; and some of them are even inclined to 
think that Dr. Syntax is old-fashioned, and needs not be obeyed. In fact, unless 
your lordship takes the matter in hand at once, I fear the good old laws of 
Grammarland will all go to wreck and ruin.” 

“That must never be,” said the Judge, solemnly shaking his wig, “ that must 
never be. We must stop it at once. Go and summon all my court before me.” 

Away went Sergeant Parsing, as quick as thought, and soon the whole court 
was assembled. There was Judge Grammar on his throne, with a long flowing 
wig and gorgeous robes. At the table below him, sat his two counsellors, Ser¬ 
geant Parsing and Dr. Syntax. Dr. Syntax is very tall and thin and dark. He 
has a long, thin neck, covered up with a stiff black tie which looks as though it 
nearly choked him. When he speaks he stands up, looks straight through his 
spectacles, sticks out his chin, and says his say in a gruff and melancholy voice, 
as if he were repeating a lesson. He is the terror of all little boys, for he never 
smiles, and he is so very, very old, that people say he never was young like 
other folks; that when he was a baby he always cried in Greek, and that his 
first attempt at talking was in Datin. However that may be, there he sat, side 
by side with Sergeant Parsing, while the children from Schoolroom-shire, armed 
with slates and pencils, prepared to listen to the examination that was to take 
place, and the Parts-of-Speech crowded together at the end of the court, waiting 
for their names to be called. * 


* Abrid & e< f from the Introduction to “ Grammarland or Grammar in fun for the Children of 
Schoolroom-shire," a little work by M. I*. Nesbitt; published by Henry Holt & Co., New York. 




PLAIN ENGLISH. 


53 


LESSON 19. 

FORM-CHANGE. 

126 . We have learned to tell the parts of speech by examining 
a sentence and finding out what each word does. We have seen 
also (63) how one part-of-speech may be changed to another by 
making some addition to it, so as to make it really a new word. 
Now there is another kind of change sometimes made in a word, 
not to form a new word, but to make the same word express 
another idea. Thus, we say— 

‘Horse,’ ‘man,’ ‘peach,’ ‘book,’ ‘knife,’ 

when we wish to express the idea of only one of each object 
mentioned; but when we want to express the idea of more than 
one of them, we say— 

‘Horses,’ ‘men, ‘peaches,’ ‘books,’ ‘knives.’ 

127 . Again, some words are changed in form to make them 
“ agree ” with other words in the same sentence. Thus, we 
say— 

‘ The horse runs' but ‘ the horses run ; ’ 

‘The man reads' but ‘the men read 
‘ This peach is ripe,’ but ‘ these peaches are ripe; ’ 

‘ The book was sold,’ but ‘ the books were sold ; ’ 

‘That knife is sharp,’ and not ‘ those knives is sharp.’ 

You will notice that the verbs ‘runs,’ ‘reads,’ ‘is,’ and ‘was,’ 
have been changed in form to run, read, are, and were. We 
make this change in the form of the verb, not because we want 
to change the meaning, but because the nouns being changed so 
as to mean more than one, the verbs are changed to make them 
agree with the subject. Changing the forms of words to change 
their meaning, or to make them agree with each other, is done to 
some extent with each part-of-speech except prepositions and 
conjunctions. We are now ready to study the form-changes of 
nouns, pronouns, adjectives, adverbs and verbs. (359.) 


54 


PLAIN ENGLISH. 


NOUN-FORMS. 

128 . Number Form.—As we have seen above (126), nouns are 
changed in form to denote the idea of more than one ; as— 

Note, notes; tree, trees ; match, matches; calf, calves ; berry, berries. 

Since these different forms of the noun show whether we are 
speaking of one or a greater number of things, they are called 
number-forms. 

The form that indicates one is called the singular form (or 
“ singular number,”) and the form that indicates more than one 
is called the plural form (or “ plural number ” ). 

Note .—The word “ singular ” comes from single , meaning one. While the 
word “ plural ” is derived from plus, meaning more. 

129 . The usual or regular way of making the plural form of 
nouns is by adding ^ or es to the singular form. 

(a) Examples of plurals formed by addings; boat, boats; field, fields ; 
day, days. 

( b ) Nouns whose plurals are formed by adding es belong to two groups : 

1. Words ending with the sound of j (soft), x or z ; as, dress, dresses; 
ax, axes ; friz, frizes. [ The word ‘ ox ’ is an exception, the plural being oxen.] 

2. Words ending with the sound of ch or sh ; as, bench, benches; gash, gashes. 

( c) Some words ending with o form the plural by adding es; as, motto, 
mottoes; potato, potatoes; others (particularly musical terms) ending with o 
add only s; as, piano, pianos ; banjo, banjos. 

130 . Irregular Plural Forms.—While most of our nouns 
form their plurals in the regular way, (by adding ^ or es, ) others 
form them irregularly, that is, by some other change in the form 
of the word. Of these last, there are the following groups: 

1. Most nouns ending with f or fe , change f to v, and then add s or es ; 
as, half, halves ; life, lives ; knife, knives. But some words ending with f or fe 
form the plural in the regular way, that is, by adding only ^ to the singular, 
without changing the f; thus, chiefs, gulfs, strifes. 

2. Many nouns ending with y, and having a consonant letter before the y , 
change the y into i, and add es; as, city, cities ; fly, flies ; etc.; but if the y has 
a vowel (a, e, i, o, or u,) before it, the plural is regularly formed by adding 
only ^ without changing the y ; as, day, days; boy, boys ; turkey, turkeys. 


PLAIN ENGLISH. 


55 


3. A few words form their plurals by a change in the middle of the word ; 
as, man, men; tooth, teeth; mouse, mice. These words are said to form their 
plurals irregularly. Similar to them are, brother, brethren ; child, children. 

131. The plurals of letters, figures, and signs are indicated by 
an apostrophe and the letter s (’s); as— 

Learn the 7’s and 9’s. Dot your i’s and cross your t’o, and do not make the 
n’s and u’s, the 3*s and 5’s, and the +’s and x’s so much alike. 

132. There are some nouns that do not have a number-form, the same 
form being used to denote one or several of the same objects; as, sheep, trout, 
deer. Others always have a plural form, but a singular meaning; as, shears, 
ashes, clothes. 

[For the plurals of proper nouns, titles, and compound nouns, see 360.] 

133. Write the following nouns in a column, then beside them, 
in another column, write the plurals of those that have a plural 
form. When the plural of a noun is not formed in the regular 
way, tell which exception it comes under. 

Chair, fife, class, inch, pass, table, dish, salmon, shelf, wife, frame, draft, 
dash, wrench, cashier, window, sky, alley, ally, deputy, toy, woman, grass, 
enemy, towel, hose, roof, heathen, soprano, boy, neighbor, ship, mumps, shoe, 
loaf, girl, sheaf, tax, cargo, tomato, theory, molasses, chimney, handful, wages, 
artery, spoonful, veto, bucketful, door, Englishman, Mexican, victuals, measles, 
daughter-in-law, son-in-law, man-of-war, Miss Allen, Mr. Green and Mr. Wil¬ 
liams, attorney-at-law. [ Keep this list for future use. ] 

134. As already mentioned (642 a), a few nouns are changed 
in form to distinguish the feminine ( female) sex from the mascu¬ 
line (male) sex. The feminine form of these words is generally 
made by the addition of ess as a suffix to the masculine word. 

Examples : Prince, princess ; heir, heiress; poet, poetess ; waiter, waitress. 

Remark.—As this class of words is small and becoming smaller, the change 
in their form to denote sex is of little or no importance. With the more com¬ 
mon of them, especially those denoting occupations, what we have called the 
masculine form, as poet, waiter, actor, tailor, doctor, etc., is now much used for 
both sexes. ( 361.) 

135. Possessive Form.— Another change is made in the form 
of nouns when we wish to show who or what owns (or 1 pos¬ 
sesses ’) a thing. Thus, we write— 


56 


PLAIN ENGLISH. 


( a) John’s hat, the boy’s slate, the man’s arm, the clerk’s salary. 

(b) Mr. Bell’s farm, Mr. Willis’s store, Mrs. Adams’s daughter. 

(c) Those girls’ dresses are pretty; the clerks’ salaries were increased. 

( d ) The soldiers’ reunion ; the Teachers’ Association ; Odd Fellows’ Hall. 

And because this form of the noun denotes possession, it is 
called the possessive form. [Or, possessive “case.” See 362.] 

Note .—The possessive form of a noun is used adjectively to limit the com¬ 
mon form of another noun. 

Notice—in (a) and (b) above—that the possessive form is made by adding 
the apostrophe and the letter s (’s) to singular nounc. When the noun is 
plural, ending in s y only the apostrophe is added as shown in ( c ) and ( d). 

When plural nouns do not end with s y their posessive forms are made by 
adding the apostrophe the same as singular nouns; as, ‘They sell men’s and 
children’s clothing.’ 

13 b. Joint and Separate Possession. —When we wish to show that 
a thing belongs to two or more persons who are joint owners of it, we add the 
possessive sign to the last word only ; thus— 

Mason & Hamlin’s organs; Tee & Shepard’s price list; Fenton, Fell & Co.’s 
store. 

{a) Separate Possession. —If it is separate ownership that we wish to de¬ 
note, we place the possessive sign after each name ; as, Shaw’s and Davis’s pianos, 
Tee’s and Grant’s armies. 

137 . Possessive Plirases. —The possessive sign with a noun-phrase 
(65 7 ) is added to the last word ; thus— 

The Queen of England’s body-guard ; my brother-in-law’s house ; the sergeant- 
at-arm’s pay. 

[For the possessive of nouns in apposition, see 363. ] 

138 . Instead of using the possessive forms of the names of 
inanimate ( 1 without life ’) things, we generally denote possession, 
or ‘ belonging to,’ by a phrase ; thus, we say— 

‘ The legs of the chair,’ instead of ‘ the chair’s legs ;) 

‘ The tail of his coat,’ instead of ‘ his coat’s tail; 

‘ The hands of the clock,’ instead of ‘ the clock’s hands.’ 

Take the list of words prepared according to the instruc¬ 
tions in paragraph 133, and add the sign of possession to both 


PLAIN ENGLISH. 


57 


the singular and plural forms of all those that will admit of a 
possessive form to modify a noun. 

Example: The cashier’s desk, the cashiers’ desks; the shelf’s edge, the 
shelves’ edges. 

Note .—When the possessive form gives an awkward construction, as in the 
last example, change it to a possessive phrase ; as, the edge of the shelf, the 
edges of the shelves. 

139. Instead of using two possessive forms together, it is better to change 
one of them into a phrase; thus, “ My friend’s father’s farm,” should be, “The 
farm of my friend’s father,” or “The farm owned by my friend’s father.” 

Correct the errors in the plural and possessive forms in the 
following: 

I. The man’s hand was caught in the machine’s wheels. 2. The baby’s foots 
were burned. 3. The clerks salarys have been paid. 4. The churchs’ doors are 
open to you. 5. The rakes tooths were broken. 6. The ships sailes were rent. 
7. The hunter’s dogs’ foots wefe hurt by the traps’ teeths. 8. The notes’ face 
was paid. 9. The factorys have been closed. 10. The ministers childs are both 
sick. ir. Boys hats are sold here. 12. Henrys slate was broken. 13. They paid 
him for a weeks work. 14. A full line of gentlemens furnishings always on 
hand. 15. Webster and Worcesters’ dictionaries, 16. Barnum’s and Baileys’ 
show. 


LESSON 20. 

PRONOUN-FORMS. 

140. Number Form. —A part of our pronouns, like nouns, 
have a number-form to show whether we mean one or more than 
one. To illustrate, let us take the simple personal pronouns, (80.) 

FIRST PERSON. SECOND PERSON. THIRD PERSON. 

Singular /, you , he, she , it. 

Plural we , you , they. 

Notice that the pronoun you does not have a plural form different from the 
singular, and that the third person pronouns, he , she , and it, have the same 
plural form. Thus, in speaking of one man, we say he, but in speaking of two 



58 


PLAIN ENGLISH. 


or more, we say they. In speaking of one woman we say she, and when refer¬ 
ring to two or more women, we say they. In the same manner, it refers to one 
object, but when we refer to more than one object, we say they. 

141. Possessive Form. —Like nouns, the pronouns have also 
a possessive form, which we use to show that an object belongs 
to such and such a person or thing; as, my coat, our eyes, your 
task, her book, his home, its foot, their hands. [See8ia.] 

142. With the exception of his, the possessive forms given 
above are always followed by the noun which they limit, hence 
they are sometimes called possessive adjectives. 

(a) But the following possessive forms are used by themselves: mine , 
ours, yours, hers, theirs, and (sometimes) his, and whose. 

One peculiar thing about these last possessive forms is that they can be used 
as either subjects or objects, or in the predicate. This is because they represent 
both the possessor (owner) and the thing possessed ; as— 

Hers is the best; These books are hers ; I sold mine ; 

What did you give for yours ? Whose is it? It is his. 

\b) Mine and thine were formerly much used as possessive adjectives, es¬ 
pecially in the Bible and other sacred writing, poems, etc. They are still some¬ 
times used in poetry and solemn address. 

Examples : “ Thine shall be the glory forever and ever.” 

“ Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord.” 

143. Object Form. —Pronouns have another form which 
nouns do not have. A noun has the same form when we use it as 
the object of a verb or preposition that it has when used for the 
subject; but with pronouns it is not so, at least with a part of 
them it is not, for some of them have a different form when they 
are used as objects ; as— 

I like him. He likes me. She came to us. We went to her. They saw you. 
You saw them. They lost it. It was good for them. 

( a ) Since the forms me, him, her , us, them, are used as the ob¬ 
jects of verbs denoting action or possession, or after prepositions, 
they are called object forms, or objective forms . (48and8i.) 


PLAIN ENGLISH. 


59 


Remark.—Notice that her is both objective and possessive (141), and that you 
and it have no object-form; that is, they have the same form for objects that 
they have for subjects. (362 b.) 

( b) Besides the five personal pronouns, there is only one 
pronoun that has an object form, and that is the relative who. Its 
object form is whom. It has also a possessive form, whose. {82 a.) 

Remark.—We have seen (17) that pronouns, as well as nouns, may be used 
with copula verbs to make a predicate. When so used, they have the same form 
that they have when used for the subject. So the subject forms and predi¬ 
cate forms of pronouns are the same. 

144 . We have, then, the following object forms : me, us, her, 
him, them, and whom, to distinguish them from the subject and 
predicate forms, I, we, he, she, they, and who. 

You will not find it very difficult to use these last forms cor¬ 
rectly, but most persons make mistakes by using object forms 
where they should use the subject and predicate forms. They 
will say— 

‘ It was me,’ ‘ It is him,’ ‘ It was not her,’ ‘ It isn’t them,’ 

when they should say— 

‘ It was I,’ ‘ It is he,’ ‘ It was not she,’ ‘ It isn’t they.’ 

Remember that the subject and predicate forms are alike. 

Correct the mistakes in the following sentences: 

Me and him go to the same school. I knew it was her. 

It was me and him who made the mistake. 

Are you sure it was them ? Who told you it was us ? 

Remember that the object forms should be used after preposi¬ 
tions, and after verbs denoting action or possession. 

Correct the mistakes in the following: 

You and her ought to have gone with we. 

They came expecting to see you and I. 

[ For further practice, see paragraph 234.] 

(a) The compounds formed by adding the word self (plural selves) to my, 
our , your , him , her, it, and them (67 1 ), are sometimes used as objects in a 
peculiar way. ( 218 b. ) 


60 


PLAIN ENGLISH. 


{b) Other compounds are made by combining the relatives who and which and 
the indefinite what , with ever or soever ; as, whoever, whatever. 

Form all the compounds you can with the words given above, using each one 
in a sentence constructed off-hand. 

Point out all the personal pronouns in the fable in para¬ 
graph 162 , and tell whether they have the common (subject and 
predicate) form, the object form, or th epossessive form. 


LESSON 21. 

FORMS OF ADJECTIVES AND ADVERBS. 

14-5. Comparison.—Adjectives are changed in form to show 
different degrees of quality ; as— 

Brave, braver, bravest; sweet, sweeter, sweetest; sharp, sharper, sharpest. 

Thus, we say— 

‘ The brave soldier; ’ ‘ the sweet apple ; ’ ‘ the sharp knife.’ 

But if we wish to compare others of the same kind with these 
objects, we say— 

‘ A braver soldier ; ’ ‘ a sweeter apple ; ’ ‘ a sharper knife.’ 

Again, comparing an object with all others of its kind, we say— 

‘ The bravest soldier; ’ ‘ the sweetest apple ; ’ ‘ the sharpest knife.’ 

146. This change in the form of adjectives, to compare one 
thing with another, or one thing with all others of the same 
kind, we call comparison. 

(a) The simple form of the adjective is called the positive degree; as— 
brave , sweet , sharp. 

( b ) The form made by adding r or er is the comparative degree; as— 
braver , sweeter , sharper. 

{c) The form made by adding st or est is the superlative degree; as— 
bravest , sweetest , sharpest. (Superlative means ' highest.’) 



PLAIN ENGLISH. 


61 


(d) Adjectives ending with y change y into i and then add er and est to 
form the comparative and superlative degrees; as, lazy, lazier, laziest. 

147. Comparison by Phrases. —The foregoing rules apply chiefly to 
words of one syllable. Most adjectives of two or more syllables, and especially 
those ending with ly> are not compared by a change of form. Such adjectives 
form their comparative degree by prefixing more , and the superlative degree 
by prefixing most , to the positive degree ; thus, careful, more careful, most 
careful. 

[a) Descending Comparison.— Sometimes adjectives are given a de- 
scending (‘going down’) comparison by means of phrases formed by pre¬ 
fixing less and least to the positive degree ; as, careful, less careful, least careful. 
Prefixing less gives the comparative degree—a degree lower than the positive ; 
but prefixing least does not give the superlative degree, for superlative (from 
super- ‘ above ; ’ lative> ‘ to carry,’) means ‘ carried to the highest degree,’ while 
least expresses the lowest degree. Instead of calling this lowest degree ‘ super¬ 
lative,’ we shall call it the sublative {sub- ‘ under’ or ‘ below; ’ lative , ‘to carry.’) 

148. The following adjectives are irregularly compared: 
\Commit to memory . ] 


POSITIVE. 

COMPARATIVE. 

SUPERLATIVE. 

good, 

better, 

best. 

bad, 



ill, V 

worse, 

worst. 

evil, ) 



little, 

less, 

least. 

much, p 
many, / 

more, 

most. 


Remarks.— Old , late> and near , are sometimes given an irregular comparison ; 
thus—elder, eldest; latter, last; nearer, next. 

There are a few other irregular comparisons in which the comparative and 
superlative degrees are based upon an adverb or a noun representing the posi¬ 
tive, the superlative being generally made by the suffix most. 

Examples: Up, upper, uppermost; in, inner, inmost or innermost; under 
(no comparative), undermost; top (no comparative), topmost. 

149. Some adjectives do not admit comparison;* as,—full, 
empty, level, round, square, universal, supreme, infinite. 

Form the comparatives and superlatives or sublatives of the following: 
Short, old, heavy, long, wavy, sad, happy, quiet, smooth, sly, rough, cute, fre¬ 
quently, cold, rapidly, warm, savage, angry, course, dull, stingy, close, light, 
sensitive, hasty, nice, business-like, gracious, shrewd, intelligent, thoughtful. 


-'Except by a sort of “ poetic license,” not admissible in ordinary, every-day speech. 



62 


PLAIN ENGLISH. 


Note. —Never use the phrase and suffix forms of comparison together; as, 
more carefuller, less carefuller; most laziest, least laziest; more happier, less 
happier ; most happiest, least happiest. This is called “ double comparison.” 

Correct the following: 

i. I never saw a more honester man, and he is the most hardest worker 
in town. 2. A more pleasanter face. 3. The most miserablest person. 4. A 
less abler lawyer. 5. The most wisest judge. 6. The least severest storm of 
the season. [For further practice, see paragraph 244. ] 

150. Two adjectives, this and that , have a change of form to agree with 
the number of the nouns they limit. Thus, we say— 

This book, these books ; that building, those buildings. [ See 245. ] 

(a) The adjective an (indefinite article) changes its form to suit the first 
sound of the word following it, when that word begins with a consonant sound. 
Thus, we say— 

An ox, an apple, an egg, an officer, an heir, an infant, an excuse ; 

and in each of these cases you will notice that the word following an begins 
with a vowel sound. But when we use this ‘ article * before words beginning 
with a consonant sound, we drop the n ; thus— 

A man, a variety, a citizen, a position, a letter, a bookkeeper. [See 245 a. ] 

ADVERBS. 

151. A few adverbs are compared the same as adjectives. 

The following form the comparative and superlative degrees in 
the regular way, by adding r, er ; st , est; soon , early , late , often , 
fast . Most adverbs ending with ly express their comparative and 
superlative or sublative degrees by prefixing more and most; 
as, easily, gladly, quickly, bravely, formerly, roughly. 

The following adverbs are compared irregularly : [ Memorise . ] 


POSITIVE. 

COMPARATIVE. 

SUPERLATIVE. 

well, 

better, 

best. 

badly, 

worse, 

worst. 

far, 

/ further, 

furthest. 

1 farther, 

farthest. 

little, 

less, 

least. 

much, 

more, 

most. 


Note.—Further means ‘ more ; ’ farther has reference to distance. 


PLAIN ENGLISH. 


63 


LESSON 22. 

VERB-FORMS. 

152. Number-Form.— We have already seen that when the 
subject is changed from the singular to the plural form, the verb 
is changed to agree with it. And since the plural form of the 
verb asserts the same action, possession, or existence that the 
singular form does, the change in the verb-form is made for no 
other reason than to make it agree with the subject. (127.) 

The verb itself cannot express number; but since it must 
change its form to agree with the number of the subject, we 
speak of it as having singular and plural forms. 

153. Unlike nouns, verbs (except the copulas) get their 
singular from the plural form. The plural form of a verb is its 
simplest form ; and because all its other forms are derived from 
it, this plural form is called the root-form. The singular form is 
made by adding s or es to the plural, changing final y preceded 
by a consonant into i before making the addition. 

Example: The flowers bloom,—the flower blooms; men go,—the man goes ; 
birds fly,—the bird flies ; merchants buy and sell,—the merchant buys and sells. 

Have, which denotes possession, has an irregular singular form,— has. The 
copula verbs form their plurals irregularly; thus— 

Singular, be, am, is, was; Pi^urai,, are, were. 

In the sentences in paragraph 36, change the singular subjects 
to the plural form and the plural to singular forms, changing the 
verb-form in each case accordingly. Do the same with the sen¬ 
tences at (£), paragraph 40. 

Notice that when the plural we is changed to the singular /, the form of the 
verb remains unchanged except when the verb is are or were. 

Correct the following errors: 

1. The boys is very careless. 2. The girls was glad. 3. We was there first. 
4. The clerks earns their wages. 5. They was not invited. 6. Good book¬ 
keepers is well paid. 7. The clouds has disappeared. [See 249 for further practice.] 


64 


PLAIN ENGLISH. 


154. When either who , which , or that is the subject of a rela¬ 
tive clause, the verb must agree in number with the antecedent 
of the relative. But when who, which , and what are used in 
asking questions, the number-form of the verb will depend upon 
whether the question is asked about one thing or more than one. 

Correct the following: 

Every man that are guilty should be punished. 

The people who is sick need sympathy. 

Can you name the boys who was there ? 

[ For further practice, see paragraphs 251 and 252.] 

155. If two or more nouns or pronouns of singular form are 
joined by and to form a compound subject, the plural form of the 
verb should be used; thus— 

John and Henry were chosen. Silver and gold are precious metals. 

Correct the following: 

He and James was there. The boy and his father is sick. Iron, tin, and cop* 
per is important articles of commerce. 

[For further practice, and other facts about the agreement of the verb with 
compound subjects, see paragraph 250. ] 

156. The mistakes made in the use of verbs are largely due 
to getting the plural form of the verb confused with the plural 
form of the noun. Having found that nouns form their plurals 
by adding ^ or es, we are apt to use this ^ or es form for the 
plurals of verbs also. But you will notice that verbs are just the 
opposite of nouns in this respect. ( 129 and 153.) 

(a) Use each of the following verbs correctly in a short sen¬ 
tence, and tell which have the singular and which plural forms; 
do not use the pronoun I for a subject: 

Walks, leaps, strikes, go, falls, shines, do, sell, buys, repeat, rejoice, cries,, 
talks, live, sings, write, teach, catches, watch, learns, look, grows. 

157. Person-Form— When I is used for the subject of verbs 
of action or possession, the plural form of the verb should be 
used just the same as with the plurals we, you, and they; as— 

We look. You look. They look. I look. The} 7 have. I have. 


PLAIN ENGLISH. 


65 


158. Since it cannot be said that the verb takes the plural form to make 
it agree with the singular subject I, the form that it takes in this case is 
really not the number-form but a person-form. Hence, we may say that verbs 
have a person-form to agree with the pronoun of the first person singular num¬ 
ber ; and this first-person form is the plural form of the verb. 

150. There is, however, one verb of -which it is not true that the plural 
form is used with /. This word is be, and it has a distinct form ( am ) for the 
pronoun I. Be is the most troublesome word in our language. P'rom it are 
derived five copulas in common use : Ain, is, are, was, and were. (364.) 

The copula verbs (except be ), with the different persons and numbers, are 
shown by the following table : [ Commit to memory. ] 



PRESENT TIME. 

(b) 

PAST TIME. 


Singular. 


Singular. 

I. 

I am —sad. 

1. 

I was —sad. 

2. 

You are —glad. 

2. 

You were —glad. 

3- 

He is— mad. 

3- 

He was —mad. 


Plural. 


Plural. 

1 . 

We are —sad. 

1 . 

We were —sad. 

2. 

You are —glad. 

2 . 

You were —glad. 

3- 

They are —mad. 

3- 

They were —mad. 


Tell which of the verbs in the sentences in paragraph 95 have 
the singular form and which the plural form. 


LESSON 23. 

VERB-FORMS— Continued. 

160. Time-Form. —The copula verbs in the last lesson were 
arranged in two columns, ( a ) and (b). Those in the left-hand 
column mean now , therefore they are headed present Time. 
Those in the right-hand column mean time that has passed , there¬ 
fore they are headed past Time. For instance, if we say— 

‘ I am sad,’ ‘ You are glad,’ ‘ He, she, or it, is mad,’ ‘ We are sad,’ etc., 

the form of the verb shows that now is when I, you, she, it, we, 
and they, are glad, sad, or mad. But when we say— 

< I W as sad,’ ‘ You were glad,’ ‘ He was mad,’ ‘ We were sad,’ ‘ They were,’ etc., 



66 


PLAIN ENGLISH. 


the forms of the verb, was and were, show that the time of our 
sadness, gladness, and madness, is not now , but that it has passed. 

(a) The difference in the forms of the verb in the first column 
is not made to show difference of time, for am, are, and is, alike 
express present time. Am and is differ from each other because 
they denote different persons; while are differs from both of 
them because it is plural in form to agree with its subject. 

But in the second column, ( b ), am and is are changed to zvas, 
and are is changed to were, to denote a different time. So then, 
was and were are changes of the verb be, to express past time. 

161 . The simple (‘ root ’) form of a verb when used by itself, 
(that is, when not combined with other verbs in verb-phrases) 
denotes present time. When we wish to express past time, we 
do it by making a change in the form of the verb ; thus— 

/ I, we, you, they, —hope, wait, run, see, sleep, spend. 

RESENT time. ^ she, it, —hopes, waits, runs, sees, sleeps, spends, 

f I, he, she, it, . 

Past time. j We ^ y 0U) they, }— ho P ed > waited, ran, saw, slept, spent. 

Notice that the past time form is not always made in the same 
way. In the first word, it is made by adding d to the root, hope , 
forming hoped. In the second, it is formed by adding ed to zvait, 
giving waited. The next two are formed by a change of the 
vowel in the middle of the .word: run, ran; see, saw. The fifth 
is formed by dropping one of the vowels and adding t at the 
close. The last is formed by changing final d to t. 

Note— These two time-forms of verbs are usually called their present and 
past “tenses.” Tense, from tempus, means ‘ time,’—the time of being, action, or 
possession. These two are the only tenses that a verb has. (173 and 180-1-2.) 

162 . Verbs whose past forms are made by simply adding d or 
ed to the root-form, like hope and wait, are said to form them 
“regularly,” and are called regular verbs. Verbs whose past 
time forms are not made by adding d or ed to the root-form are 
said to be irregular verbs. These irregular verbs form their 
past time in the following ways: 


PLAIN ENGLISH. 


67 


1. By change in the vowel letter ; as, ride, rode ; sing, sang ; come, came. 

2. By dropping final vowel; as, bite, bit; hide, hid. 

3. By changing final letter or letters ; as, send, sent; lose, lost. 

4. By dropping vowel from middle ; as, lead, led ; feed, fed. 

5. By changing the vowel and final letters ; as, bring, brought. 

6. By changing the vowel sound and adding t or d; as, feel, felt; deal, dealt; 
flee, fled. Do changes the vowel letter and adds d. 

163. Other Irregular Forms.— Be, as we have already noticed, is 
irregular, having was and were for its past forms. 

( a ) Go takes a different ward for its past time,— went. 

( b ) Five verbs, shall, will, can, may, and must, are frequently used in 
forming verb-phrases. The first four of them have irregular past forms, as 
follow: should, would, could, and might. 

Must has no past time form, though it is sometimes used in verb-phrases ex¬ 
pressing past time. 

Shall and will express futurp time. 

Should and would are used in phrases denoting present as well as past time. 

( c ) About twenty-five verbs have the same form for past that they have for 
present time. Examples : Beat, put, spread. [ See 329, Note 1. ] / 

( d) Some verbs have both regular and irregular forms to denote past time ; 
as, dream, dreamt or dreamed; .sweep, swept or sweeped. [ 329, Note 2. ] 

( e) Two verbs, beware and begone, have no past forms, while quoth (now 
obsolete except in poetry) is used only in the past time. (330.) 

Turn to the list of irregular verbs (329) and go over it care¬ 
fully, telling in which of the above-mentioned ways each verb 
forms its past time. [Correct the errors in paragraph 258.] 


LESSON 24. 

VERB-FORMS— Concluded. 

In the last two lessons, we have learned about the number- 
forms, the time-forms*, and the first-person form of verbs,—the 
first-person form being the same as the plural forms of all verbs 
except be, which has am for the pronoun /. 



68 


PLAIN ENGLISH . 


164. Yerbals.—There are no other real verb-forms, but there 
are two other changes made in the form of a verb when it ceases 
to assert and becomes, in part, another part-of-speech. 

Catching trout is fine sport. 

I always enjoy catching trout. 

We were engaged in catching trout. 

In each of these sentences the word ‘ catching’ (from the verb 
‘ catch ’) is used as a noun : In the first, as the subject; in the 
second, as the object of the verb ‘ enjoy; ’ in the third, as the ob¬ 
ject of the preposition ‘ in.’ But there is one way in which this 
word ‘ catching ’ differs from the ordinary noun. It has an 
object,—‘ trout.’ Now, as a noun never takes an object, it is plain 
that catching must be partly a verb and partly a noun. And 
such, in fact, is the case. It is a verbal-noun ,—a verb used as 
a noun but keeping (in part at least) its verb nature. (365.) 

( a ) It was a land flowing with milk and honey. 

In this sentence, the word ‘ flowing ’ (from the verb ‘ flow ’ ) 
qualifies the noun ‘ land,’ thus doing the work of an adjective. 
At the same time, jlowing takes the usual adverb modifier of a 
verb, the phrase ‘with milk and honey,’ answering how? There¬ 
fore flowing is a verbal-adjective. 

( b ) He came dashing through the crowd as fast as he could run. 

In this sentence, dashing (from ‘ dash ’) is an adverb, telling how 
‘ he came.’ At the same time, it takes the modifier of a verb, the 
adverbial phrase, ‘ through the crowd,’—answering where ? and 
the adverbial clause, ‘as fast as he could run,’—answering how? 
Hence, it is a verbal-adverb . 

165. Participles.—These verbals (verbal-nouns, verbal- 
adjectives, and verbal-adverbs) partake of the nature of two 
parts of speech at the same time. Hence, they are called PAR¬ 
TICIPLES. ( Participle means ‘ a partaker.’.) 

166. A verb has two participles ; one called “ imperfect ” (or 
active) y the other, “ perfect ” ( or passive. ) 


PLAIN ENGLISH. 


69 


( a ) The imperfect participle always ends in ing. It expresses 
action, existence, or possession, as going on, or continuing (that 
is, action, etc., not perfect —‘ complete’) at the time mentioned 
in the sentence. This participle has been fully illustrated in the 
sentences given above. (164.) 

Remarks—Because it represents action, etc., as continuing at the time men¬ 
tioned in the sentence, the imperfect participle is also called the ‘ present,’ or 
active participle, and we shall hereafter refer to it by the latter name. 

The active participles that may have objects are those derived from transitive 
verbs. (99.) Examples : Catching, lifting, bringing. 

(I?) The perfect participle always expresses action, etc., as 
perfected ( ‘ completed ’) at the time mentioned in the sentence. 
It is formed by adding d or ed to regular verbs. 

Examples : Waved , from ‘wave; ’ defeated, from ‘defeat; ’ beaten , from ‘beat.’ 

( c ) The perfect participle is never used as a verbal-noun, and 
but rarely as a verbal-adverb ; but it is freely used as a verbal- 
adjective ; thus— 

The enemy, defeated at every point, retreated in haste. 

The flag, waved by the gentle breeze, seemed exultant. 

(d) This participle (the 1 perfect ’) is always the last word in 
passive verb-phrases ( 101 ); hence, it is also called the passive 
participle. And because it always denotes an action, etc., as 
past ( completed), it is sometimes called the past participle. 

167. What are known as “ compound participles ” are formed by placing 
having before a perfect participle, or by placing having been before either an 
active or a passive participle ; as— 

Having watched ; having been watching ; having been watched. 

Remark.—As these are really phrases and not verb-forms, they do not come 
under the present head, and will be treated in another place. (195.) 

168. Briefly stated, the forms and form-changes of verbs are 
as follow : 

1. Number Form.—Singular form made by adding ^ or es to the plural 
(root) form. [Changing finally, preceded by a consonant, into i. ] 


70 


PLAIN ENGLISH. 


2. Person Form. —Using plural form of verb with pronoun /, excepting 
in the case of be which takes am for the first person, singular. 

3. Time Form. —Past time form made— 

1. By adding d or ed to the root of regular verbs. 

2. B3' variety of changes in root-form of irregular verbs. 

4. Participle Forms. —Root-form changed— 

1. By adding ing to make the active participle. 

2. By adding d or ed (regular) ; also irregular changes to form the per¬ 
fect participle. 

Remark.—Owing to the variety of ways in which the perfect participles of 
irregular verbs are formed, it is better to become familiar with them by memoriz¬ 
ing from the list than to attempt learning rules for their formation. (329.) 

169. Archaic Forms.— In Old English there were two other verb-forms : 

1. A second person-form ending in st or est * and used only with the old 
second person (singular) thou ; thus— 

Thou lovest, thou walkest; past, lovedst, walkedst. 

2. A third person ( singular) form ending in th or eth ; thus— 

He loveth, he walketh ; (no corresponding past form). 

These forms are called archaic (‘ old style ’). They abound in the Scriptures, 
and in poetry. They are still used more or less in poetry and in solemn forms 
of address; but they are practically obsolete so far as every-day speech is con¬ 
cerned. [ See Twenty-third Psalm, page 98. ] 

170. How to distinguish Participles from Nouns aud Ad¬ 
jectives.— Nouns ending in ing should not be confounded with 
active participles used as nouns. The latter are verbals and take 
the modifiers of verbs ; the former being pure nouns never take 
the modifiers of a verb. (64*,Note.) Neither should the adjectives 
derived from verbs (68 2 ) be confused with the participles. The 
former immediately precede the noun described ; the latter gen¬ 
erally follow the noun or pronoun. 

Sometimes, however, a participle without modifiers is placed 
just before the word it limits. In such cases, it may be distin¬ 
guished from pure descriptive adjectives by the following test: 

"'Excepting has and was, which add only /.and shall, will, are, and were, 
which change the final letter to t; thus, Thou hast , thou shall, thou wert. [ See 258? and 377. J 



PLAIN ENGLISH. 


71 


Read the two words together without a pause between them. 
If the idea thus conveyed by it is precisely the meaning in¬ 
tended, the word is an adjective. But if the description is not 
what is intended, the word is a participle. 

Example : “ Listening, we caught the sound of clattering hoofs.” 

Here, plainly, it is not intended to say ‘ listening we ; ’ but just as plainly the 
writer does mean to call the hoofs ‘ clattering hoofs.’ Therefore, clattering is 
a descriptive adjective, but listening is a participle. (.365 b.) 

Remark.—The participle used as an adjective is sometimes called a “particip¬ 
ial adjective.” All participles used to complete the verb-phrase after copulas 
are participial adjectives, since they are a part of the verb-phrase assertion and 
at the same time are descriptive of the subject; thus— 

They are hurrying. He was standing. It is painted. I am surprised. 

171. Tell which of the words in the following sentences are 
pure adjectives or nouns, and which are participles ; also tell 
how the participles are used : 

1. Singing strengthens the voice. 2. Worrying will not help matters. 
3. Catching trout requires skill. 4. Running will not hurt him. 5. The kettle 
needs scouring. 6. Hunting deer is exciting sport. 7. Rowing a boat is good 
exercise. 8. They thought he needed close watching. 9. Counterfeiting is 
punished by the government. 10. Hearing is believing, seeing is knowing. 
11. The hunter saw the bear approaching. 12. Looking out of the window, we 
saw them coming. 13. The moon shining brightly, lighted our pathway. 

14. The stars, twinkling in the sky, had the appearance of large diamonds. 

15. The hounds, heated by the chase, ran into the water, leaping over each other 
in their haste. 16. The general, seated on his horse, watched the enemy. 

Remarks.—Notice that participles never assert the action, existence, or pos¬ 
session. They only mention these things as taking place or as having taken place. 

Besides their use as nouns, adjectives, and adverbs, participles have other 
constructions which will be considered farther on. (Lesson 32.) 

172. Parse the participles in the following fable,* by telling 

how they are used,—whether as nouns, adjectives, or adverbs ; 
whether they are active or perfect; and whether they are derived 
from transitive or intransitive verbs : (101.) 

A rich gouty man troubled with disease in his feet, went to a physician dis¬ 
tinguished for his skill, promising to do exactly what the physician ordered, 

-‘From'Dr. Abbott’s “ How to Parse.” The fables on pages 5 and 37 were adapted from the 
same author’s “ How to tell the Parts of Speech.” 



PLAIN ENGLISH. 


if only he would cure him. Seeing his patient deprived of the use of his feet, 
and too lazy to use them, the physician took him up into a room containing no 
chair, couch, or seat of any kind, and having a floor lined with iron. There lie 
left him and went out, locking the door behind him. Presently the rich man 
found his feet growing unpleasantly hot. Irritated at this he called out, but 
no one answered. Hobbling to the door on his crutches, he found it locked. By 
this time his feet, heated by the hot iron floor, pained him so much that he be¬ 
gan to raise them, lifting first one, then the other, at first slowly, then more 
and more quickly. In this way, forced to use his legs, he found the use of them 
grow more and more easy, and was cured against his will. 


LESSON 25. 

FUTURE TIME VERB-PHRASES. 

173. We have seen (161) that past time may be indicated by 
a change in the form of a verb ; but we very often make a 
statement in such a way as to show that we do not mean either 
present time, or past time. Thus, I may say— 

‘ I shall write to him about it, and you will hear from him soon,’ 

by which you understand that 1 have not already written to him, 
that I am not now writing to him, but that I intend to write to 
him in the future. In the second part of the sentence, will hear 
expresses the same idea of future time. 

(a) Notice that the future time is not indicated by a change in the form of 
the verbs write and hear , but by placing shall and will before them. Therefore 

we may say that future time is shown by verb-phrases made by placing 
shall and will before the root form of the verb. 

{b) If we change the positions of shall and will in the sentence given above, 
and say— 

‘ I will write to him about it, and you shall hear from him soon,’ 
will in the first person and shall in the second denote future time, and also indi¬ 
cate a promise on the part of the speaker. So, in the sentence— 

We will go and see him; he shall know about it, 

will in the first person and shall in the third indicate not only future time, but 
also a determination on our part. . 



PLAIN ENGLISH. 


73 


174 . Now, let us arrange the future time in all the persons, 
both singular and plural. 

Singular. Plural. 

I shall [will] write. We shall [will] write. 

You will [shall] write. You will [shall] write. 

He will [shall] write. They will [shall] write. 

175 . By placing the copula be after shall and will, an adjective may be used 
to complete the predicate ; as, ‘ I shall be anxious.’ Complete the predicates 
in the above outline, using the adjectives ‘ anxious,’ ‘ happy,’ ‘ sorry,’ ‘ glad,’ 
‘ sick.’ Notice the difference in the meaning of shall and will in the first per¬ 
son, and will and shall in the second and third persons. [ See 366. ] 

176 . The following table shows how the verb ‘see’ should 
be used with the different persons and numbers to indicate the 
three divisions of time,—present, past, and fulure. 

Present Time. 

Singular. Plural. 


( Active .) 

( Passive .) 

( Active .) 

( Passive .) 

1. 

I see 

[am seen.] 

We see 

[are seen.] 

2. 

You see 

[are seen.] 

You see 

[are seen.] 

3 * 

He sees 

[is seen.] 

They see 

[ are seen.] 



Past Time. 


1. 

• I saw 

[ was seen. ] 

We saw 

[were seen.] 

2. 

You saw 

[ were seen. ] 

You saw 

[ were seen.] 

3 - 

He saw 

[was seen. ] 

They saw 

[were seen.] 



Future 

Time. 


1. 

I shall [ will] see [ be seen.] 

We shall [ will] see [be seen.] 

2. 

You will [shall] 

see [be seen.] 

You will [shall] 

see [be seen.] 

3 - 

He will [shall] 

see [be seen.] 

They will [shall\ 

| see [be seen.] 

1 

77 . Conjugation. —Giving all the forms of a verb, or 

its phrases, in the 


different persons, numbers, and times, like the above, is called conjugation. 

[ From con- ‘ together; ’ jug are, ‘ to join.’ ] 

The forms given in the left-hand column of both singular and plural, are 
called “ active ” because they represent the subject as acting, thus, ‘ I see,’ ‘ They 
see,’etc. (100.) 

The phrases enclosed in the brackets are called “ passive ” because they show 
that the subject receives the action expressed. These are passive verb-jmrases, 
and you will notice that they are made by putting the copulas am, is, are, was, 
were, before the passive participle, seen. (166 d.) f 





74 


PLAIN ENGLISH. 


In the active conjugation, only the present (see-s) and the past (saw) forms 
of the verb are used. In the passive , only the perfect participle (seen) is used; 
and this is true of every verb. Therefore, all we need to know about a verb, in 
order to conjugate it, is the present, past, and perfect participle forms. Fox this 
reason, these forms are called the principal parts of a verb. 

178. Conjugate the following verbs, using the active form : 

Lay (transitive)—‘ to place or put; ’ as, to lay a book on the 
table. 

Principal parts: Present, lay; past, laid; perfect participle, laid. 

In conjugating lay, use “ the book ” for the object.* 

Lie (intransitive)—‘ to recline; ’ as, to lie on the grass. 

Principal parts: Present, lie; past, lay; perfect participle, lain. 

In conjugating lie, complete the sentence each time by putting the phrase • 
“ on the grass ” after the verb ; thus, ‘I lie on the grass.’ 

Set (transitive )—‘ to place or put; ’ as, to set a table. 

Principal parts : Present, set; past, set; perfect participle, set. 

In conjugating set, use “ the table ” for the object. 

Sit ( intransitive)—‘ to sit in a chair.’ 

Principal parts: Present, sit; past, sat; perfect participle, sat. 

In conjugating, complete the sentence by the phrase “ on the lounge.” 

Do ( transitive )—‘ to perform ; ’ as, to do the work. 

Principal parts: Present, afo/ past, did\ perfect participle, done. 

In conjugating, use “the work” for the object. 

Have (transitive )—‘ to possess; ’ as, to have respect. 

Principal parts: Present, have; past, had; perfect participle, had. 

In conjugating, use “ friends ” for the object. 

, P 

• To tlie Teacher. —The conjugation of such verbs as those given in paragraph 178 
may be made both interesting and practical by using objects after the transitive, and phrases 
after the intransitive verbs. Indeed, the use of both objects and adverbial phrases after the 
transitive verbs is recommended and strongly urged. Thus, for example, ‘ He lays the book on 
the table,’ * You laid the book on the table,’ ' I shall lay the book on the table.’ Students can 
thus be led to see that conjugation is not a mere rigmarole of forms, but a practical exercise 
in sentence-making,—the very sentence, too, in which they are likely to make mistakes. 

Alw^'S repeat the conjugation in the future time, using will and shall, as shown in the 
brackets, and taking notice of the promise or determination expressed. Drill your students in 
the conjugation of such troublesome words as lay and lie, sit and set, until the correct form of 
expression becomes habitual-. This work is continued in the next lesson. 



PLAIN ENGLISH. 


75 


179. Correct the following errors, giving reasons for the cor¬ 
rections : 

i. You done it yourself. 2. It was did in a hurry. 3. He lay the book down 
and set on it. 4. They sat the clock. 5. Sit the bucket on the bench and let 
it set there. 6. I know he done it for I seen him. 7. They are laying idle. 
8. They was setting on the fence when we seen them. 9. They done nothing but 
sit bad examples. 10. Lie it on the shelf. 11. He laid in the shade and watched 
the men sitting fence-posts. [ For further practice, see paragraph 254. ] 


LESSON 26. 

PERFECT TIME VERB-PHRASES. 

180. Present Perfect Time.— By putting have (singular has) 
before the perfect participle of a verb, we form a verb-phrase 
denoting time completed but connected in sense with the present 
time; thus— 

Singular.— I have .seen, You have seen, He has seen. 

PruRAr.—We have seen, You have seen, They have seen. 

This is known as the “present complete” or “ present perfect” 
time. ( Perfect means ‘ complete.’) 

Conjugate the verbs' see, lay, lie, sit, set, and do, in the present 
perfect time, using the following objects after the transitives: 

See [ the man]; lay [the book]; set [the table]; do [the work. ] 

[For principal parts of these verbs, see paragraph 178; also, 329. ] 

181. Past Perfect Time.— By placing had (past of have) be¬ 
fore the perfect participle of a verb, we form a verb-phrase ex¬ 
pressing a time before some other past time ; that is, it will denote 
an action that was perfect ( ‘ completed ’) at a certain time in the 
past; as— 

I had seen him there before. They had finished the work before we arrived. 

This is called the “ past complete ” or “past perfect” time. 



76 


PLAIN ENGLISH. 


Conjugate see, lay, lie, sit, and afr, in the past perfect time, 
placing the objects in brackets above after the transitive verbs. 

182. Future Perfect Time.—By putting have after shall and 
will in the future time ( 174), between those words and the perfect 
participle of a verb, we may form verb-phrases indicating a time 
before some other future time, or an action that will be perfected 
(‘ completed ’) before some other future act; thus— 

I shall have seen him when you arrive. 

You will have earned your money long before you get it. 

He will have finished the work by that time. 

This is called the “ future complete ” or “ future perfect ” time. 

Conjugate see, lay, lie, sit, set, and do, in the future p erfect time, with objects 
after the transitives. 


183 . From the foregoing, we find that the following perfect, 
or completed times may be expressed by the use of have and had: 


Present 

Perfect. 


Past 

Perfect. 


Future 

Perfect. 


^ I have 
You have 

(_ He has (They have) 

f I had 
You had 
f He had 


( 

1 


I shall have 
You will have 
He will have 


seen, laid, lain, set, sat, done. 


Note .—In conjugating- the plural num¬ 
ber only one change is made from this 
outline. In the third person (present)., 
has is changed to have. 


Conjugate the following words, carrying them through the 
present, past, and future, and the present perfect, past perfect, 
-and future perfect divisions of time : [For principal parts, see 329.] 


Fall [on the ice]; come [ to school ]; go [ to the city ]; sit [ for a picture ]. 


184. Passive Yerb-Phrases.— To form the passive conjugation 
of the perfect times, use the passive participle been after have and 
had. Conjugate see passively in the perfect times according to 
the above outline. 


Note. —The passive conjugation of see in the present, past, and future times, 
was given in our last lesson, paragraph 176. 


PLAIN ENGLISH. 


77 


185. Conjugate see, lay, set , and do passively, in the six divis¬ 
ions of time, by turning the object of the active verb into the 
subject of a passive verb-phrase, using the objects given in par¬ 
agraph 180 ; thus— 

PRESENT Time. The man is seen by me— by you, her, him, us, them. 

Past Time. The man was seen by me—etc. 

Future Time. The man will [ shall ] be seen by me—etc. 

PRESENT Perfect Time. The man has been seen by me—etc. 

Past Perfect Time. The man had been seen by me—etc. 

Future Perfect Time. The man will [shall] have been seen by me—etc. 

186. Conjugate the following verbs in the six divisions of 

time : [For principal parts, see list of irregular verbs, paragraph 329.] 

Begin [ the work ]; sing [ a song ]; eat [ the cake ]; drink [ lemonade ]; drive 
[ the horse ]; ring [ the bell ]; throw [ the ball. ] 

First conjugate actively, using the objects enclosed by the brackets; then 
conjugate passively, by using those objects for the subjects of passive sentences, 
as shown above, 185. 

187. By using the active participle of the verb we are conju¬ 
gating, after the copulas be or am, is, are, was, were, and been, we 
may form what are known as “ progressive ” verb-phrases in each 
of the six divisions of time ; thus— 

I am building. I was building. I shall be building. 

I have been building. I had been building. I shall have been building. 

Remark.—These progressive verb-phrases do not properly have a passive 
form. (386.) 

188. When subordinate clauses beginning with if, though, or 
unless, are joined to sentences containing might, coidd, would, or 
should, the past form of a verb is used to express present time 
with either singular or plural subjects * thus— 

If he were here, he could tell us. 

Unless I were sure of it, I should not wait. 

Though he were to slay me, yet would I trust him. 

What should you do if you were in my place ? 

If they were present, they might answer for themselves. 

If I were in your place, I should do just as you are doing. 


78 


PLAIN ENGLISH. 


If is sometimes omitted ; thus— 

Were we sure of it, we should go at once. 

Were the facts better known, the people would demand a change. 

Were he here, what he would do might be far from what he should do. 

(a) Were is used in the present time in expressing a wish ; as— 

I wish he were here. I wish I were well again. 

( b ) Were is used in the present time after as if, or as though, 
introducing an adverbial clause of manner ; thus— 

He talks as if he were well informed. 

You speak as if I were your slave. 

They act as though they were .confident of success. 

189. Insubordinate clauses, connected by if, unless, etc., to 
principal clauses expressing future time, the present form of the 
verb is used with a future sense. ( 369 .) 

Examples: If they are there, I w T ill tell them. 

Unless he comes, I shall not go. 

If it rains, the picnic will be postponed. 

If he has it with him tomorrow, ask him for it. 


LESSON 27. 

INFINITIVES AND PARTICIPLE-PHRASES. 

190. Infinitives.— The use of the active and perfect partici¬ 
ples of verbs as verbal-nouns, verbal-adjectives, and verbal- 
adverbs, has already been explained. ( 164 .) There is another 
way in which a verb may be used as a noun, an adjective, or an 
adverb. This is done by speaking of the action, existence, or 
possession, represented by the root-form of the verb, without 
asserting it. In doing this, we generally put the word “ to ” 
before the verb ; as, to do, to be, to have. Thus— 

To do our duty is right. To be or not to be is the question. To have and to 
hold , to love and to cherish , were the happy words. 



PLAIN ENGLISH. 


79 


Since this way of using the verb does not represent the doing, 
being, or possessing, as belonging to any particular person, or 
show whether one person or more than one is concerned in the 
action, etc., it is called the infinitive use. Infinitive means 
1 unlimited,’ that is, without limit as to person and number. 

Almost every verb in our language may be used in this infini¬ 
tive way; and because the to is generally ( not always ) used be¬ 
fore it, this little word is sometimes called the “sign” of the 
infinitive. (370.) 

191. The following examples show the use of the infinitive, 
with the? construction (‘ used in the manner ’) of a noun: 

1. To decide was not easy. [Used as subject.] 

2. He likes to work . [ Used as object of verb. ] 

3. His desire is to know more. [ Used as predicate noun. ] 

4. They were about to start a factory. [Object of preposition; 370 a. ] 

5. He came intending to speak first. [ Object of participle.] 

(a) The infinite may be used as an adjective ; thus— 

1. They have money to spend, (i. e., ‘spending’ money.) 

2. He has no time to spare, (i. e., ‘spare’ time.) 

3. I have a duty to perform, (i. e., ‘ a duty that I must perform.’) 

(b ) The infinitive may be used as an adverb ; thus— 

1. They came to disturb us. [Modifying verb.] 

2. It was beautiful to behold. [ Modifying adjective. ] 

3. It is good enough to eat. [ Modifying adverb ‘ enough.’ ] 

Remark.—Notice that the infinitive, like the participle, is a verbal. It does 

not assert; and when it is used as a noun, adjective, or adverb, it may take an 
object or adverb modifier the same as a pure verb. Tike the participle, the in¬ 
finitive has still other uses which will be considered in a future lesson. (p. 93.) 

192. To, the “sign” of the infinitive,'is generally omitted in 
the following cases : 

1. After bid, help, hear, feel, let, make, and see, and words of similar mean¬ 
ing, such as view, behold, perceive, watch, observe, et6., especially when these 
verbs are followed by an object to which the infinitive is added as st comple¬ 
ment (222) ; also after have in similar constructions. 

Examples: We heard him speak last night. They helped us sing. Bid 
them come at once. Uet them go with us. I would have you remember it. 
They had us try it once. He had them practice constantly. 


80 


PL A IN EN GLISH. 


2. After need and dare, when they are followed by not , or when they are 

nsed to begin interrogative sentences; as, ‘ Need I come again ? ’ ‘ You need 
not come again.’ ‘ Dare they do it? ’ ‘ They dare not do it.’ 

3. After do, used in the sense of “perform; ” as, ‘ I do work.’ ( 205.) 

Remark.—When one of these words is used in a passive phrase, the infini¬ 
tive following has the to ; as— 

He was heard to say it. They were dared to come. 

4. After the comparatives as and than, following rather, better, as well, or as 
lief; thus— 

I might as well tell him as not. I would as lief not be, as live to be—etc. 
He would rather die than give up his principles ; and so he might better die 
than give them up. 

5. When two or more verbs used infinitively are connected by a co-ordinate 
conjunction, the to may be used with the first and omitted before the others; 

He promised to love, honor, and obey. 

193. Tell how the infinitives are used in the following : 

1. To see the sun is pleasant. 2. To live is not all of life. 3. I love to hear 
the birds. 4. He tries to do his duty. 5. Her aim was to do right. 6. To part 
is hard when friends are dear. 7. To comfort the sorrowing is Christ-like. 
8. We had no water to drink. 9. He has money to loan. 10. They had no fire 
to warm them. 11. The child has no one to care for it. 12. I hope to return 
soon. 13. They were about to starve. 14. The ambition of most men is to be¬ 
come rich. 15. And fools who came to scoff remained to pray. 

Point out four infinitives in the fable in paragraph 172, telling how each is 
used and how the infinitive itself is modified. 

194. Infinitive-Phrases.— By placing the infinitive of be before 
the active participles of other verbs, and the infinitive of have 
before perfect participles, we may form infinitive phrases similar 
in form and nature to the compound participles (167); thus — 

To be giving is more blessed than to be receiving. 

To have said nothing would have been better. 

And such phrases have, like the participle phrases (184-195), 
passive and progressive, as well as active forms; thus— 

To have been given a choice would have pleased him. 

To have been giving assistance all the time would have gratified us. 

( a ) The copulative infinitive, to be, is sometimes followed by 
an adjective, and even by an adverb ; thus— 

To be good is to be happy. She would like to be here. 


PLAIN ENGLISH. 


81 


Iii such cases, the adjective or adverb may be said to be used 
infinitively. 

195 . Participle-Phrases.—We saw in our conjugation of verbs 
that the perfect ( ‘ passive ’) participles of verbs may be used in 
forming verb-phrases, both active and passive, the active phrases 
being confined to the completed times. (180-1-2.) We have 
seen also (187) that the active participles are used to form active, 
progressive phrases. 

( a ) Participles and participle-phrases are also both active and 
passive in sense and use. The active participle-phrase is formed 
by placing having before the past participle, or (for the progress¬ 
ive phrase ) having been before the active participle ; thus— 

Having watched for hours, she was tired. ( 365 b. ) 

Having been watching for days, he was nearly sick. 

( b ) The passive participle-phrase is formed by placing being 
or having been before the passive participle ; thus— 

Being watched , he did not attempt it again. (214.) 

Having been watched , he had not attempted it again. 

196 . The participle-phrases are used as nouns, the same as 
the present participle and the infinitives ; thus in— 

His being watched prevented his attempting it, 
the phrase ‘ being watched ’ is used as a noun, subject of the 
sentence, limited by his ; and in 

He dislikes being watched , 

the phrase ‘ being watched ’ is used as a noun, the object of the 

verb dislikes; while in 

He objects to being watched , 

it is the object of the preposition to. 

Parse the infinitives and participles in the story of “Judge 
Grammar’s Court,” page 51, by telling how each one is used and 
how it is modified. 


82 


PLAIN ENGLISH . 


LESSON 28. 

AUXILIARY VERBS.* 

197. We have found that when a verb is used by itself in 
making an assertion, it denotes either present or past time. ( 161 .) 
We have found also that when we wish to denote any other time 
than the past or present, we do so by making use of the words 
shall, will , and have ( past had), placing them before the principal 
verb. Verbs that are used in this way to help form verb-phrases 
for the purpose of denoting time or expressing some condition of 
the assertion, are called auxiliary or helping verbs. ( Auxiliary 
means ‘helping.’) 

198. The pure auxiliary verbs are shall, will, can , may, must, 
and be. The first four of these have past forms— should, would, 
could, and might. 

(a) Be is the base or root of the pure copulas, and has for its present 
forms am, is, are ; past was, were ; perfect participle been. 

Be means ‘ exists,’ and the word or phrase that follows any of its forms to 
complete the predicate, qualifies, limits, or explains the subject. 

(b) Three other words, otyglit, do, and have, are usually classed with the 
auxiliaries, though they are, in reality, principal verbs. ( 371 .) 

Ought means ‘ owe ; ’ do means ‘ perform ; ’ have means ‘ possess.’ 

USES AND MEANINGS OF THE AUXILIARIES. 

199. Shall, Will.—Besides denoting future time, these two 
words may, as we have already seen ( 1736 ), be so used as to ex¬ 
press a promise or determination on the part of the speaker. 

(a) In asking a question,use the auxiliary that should be used in the 
answer. This rule applies to other auxiliaries as well as to shall and will. 


-To the Teacher. —This lesson and the remaining five of Parti may be omitted by 
beginners and classes whose members are aiming at only the “practical” in their study of 
language. The subjects discussed, in these lessons are mostly technical; besides, all the salient 
points are touched upon in Part II, from which reference is made to them from time to time. 
It might be well, however, to spend some time on the exercises for analysis in lesson 33, before 
passing to Part II. These points each teacher must decide for himself, being governed by the 
circumstances and the needs of his class. 



V 




PLAIN ENGLISH. 


83 


Examples : ‘ Shall you see him again ? ’ Answer : ‘ I think I shall.’ ‘ Will 

you help me tomorrow? ’ Answer : ‘ I will.’ 

( b) Will should not be used with the first person in asking questions as to 
what the speaker is to do ; thus, ‘ Will I tell him ? ’ should be ‘ Shall I tell him ? ’ 

( c ) Will is used to report the will, or determination, of the third person ; 
as, “ He will have his own way about it in spite of everything.” 

200. Should, Would. —These two words are derived from 
shall and will , of which they are the pa§i forms. They apre, 
however, much used in a present or future sense to express action 
or existence depending upon some condition ; as— 

I should go if I were able. He would come if you should invite him. 

(a) In general, the difference between should and would is much the same 
as that between shall and will. Would implies an exercise of the will; should 
a dependent action or an obligation. In expressing a conditional action or ob¬ 
ligation, should may be used with either of the persons. 

/ • V W.. 

Remark.—In the latter sense, should means«the same as ought , though not so 
strong a word ; as, “ He should ( ought to) go.” 

Would is sometimes used in the past to denote a habit or custom; as, “ He 
would walk the floor for hours at a time.” 

Would is also used in the present to express willingness conditioned upon 
the ability to do ; as, “ He would if he could.” 

In asking questions, use would or should according to 199 a , and b. 

In reporting what others have said we should use the auxiliaries they used. 

Examples : ‘ He says he shall be glad to see you ; ’ or, ‘ He said he should 

be glad to see you.’ ‘ The man says he will not pay the bill; ’ or, ‘ The man 
said he would not pay the bill.’ 

[ For further discussion of shall and will , should and would , see 366. ] 

201. May, Might.— May indicates present permission in re¬ 
gard to an action or possession ; as— 

You may go. He may have it. 

( a ) May also implies a possible present possession or future action ; thus— 

“ He may come ” may mean either ‘ He is at liberty to come,’ or, ‘ It is pos¬ 
sible that he may .(will) yet come.’ 

And so, “ He way have it,” may mean either ‘He is granted permission to 
have it,’ or, ‘ It is possible that he ( now) has it.’ 




84 


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( b) May also expresses a possible present existence or the possibility of a 
present perfect action or past existence ; as, “ He may be sick.” “ He may have 
gone by this time.” “He may have been sick.” That is, ‘It is possible that 
he is sick,’ ‘ has gone,’ * was sick.’ 

( c) Might , the past of may, is used to express past permission or power to 
do or be , or the possibility of doing , being, or having ; as, “ He said you might 
go ; ” that is, ‘ He gave you permission to go.’ “ You might have helped us ; ” 
that is, ‘ You could ( or ‘ had the power to ’) have helped us.’ 

(d) Might is also used in a conditional sense to express either permission 
or power to do, or the possibility of doing, in the present or future; as, “You 
might stay if the weather were not so bad.” “ He might decide in our favor if 
they would let him alone.” “ They might help us if they would.” 

202. Can, Could.—As may implies permission, so can and its 
past, could , imply ability or power. 

{ a) Can is used only in the present time. Could is used in past and past 
perfect verb-phrases. In the past perfect it is used in a conditional sense; as— 

He could have helped us if he had been here. 

(b ) Could is also used in a present sense to denote ability conditioned upon 
a willingness to do; as, ‘ He could if he would.’ 

203. Must, Ought. —These two words imply obligation. 

Must bears the idea of an obligation ( a ‘ being obliged ’) from necessity or 
other compulsion. Though it has no past form, must is used as an auxiliary to 
present perfect verb-phrases ; as— 

“You must have known it,” meaning, ‘ It must be that you knew it,’ or, ‘It 
certainly is true that you knew it.’ 

y^a) Ought originally meant owe , of which word it was the past form. 
Hence, ought means ‘ owe ; ’ ‘ to be indebted to ; ’ ‘to be under obligation to.’ 
It conveys the idea of a moral obligation, or, as we may say, an obligation ‘ from 
the very nature of things.’ 

Remark.— Should , in one of its senses, is a synonym for ought , though 
«ought ’ denotes the stronger obligation. [ See 200 a , Remark. ] 

Examples: We should help one another. You ought to help him. 

{b) Though classed with the auxiliary verbs, ought is, as mentioned above 
(198^), really a principal verb, always followed by the root infinite of some 
other verb. (371.) It is used in both present and past senses; thus— 

“They ought to notify us;” that is, ‘They owe it to us to give us notice.’ 
“ They ought to have notified us ; ” that is, ‘ They owed it to us to give us notice/ 


PLAIN ENGLISH. 


85 


204. Without including shall and will (used to denote future 
time, and, when necessary, to express a promise or determination 
on the part of the speaker), and have (used to express posses¬ 
sion, and also to denote completed time), we have the following 
meanings, or ideas, expressed by the auxiliaries: 

Potential. (‘ power ’) can , could , might. 

Liberty. (‘ permission ’) may and might. 

Possibility. May and might. 

Obligation. Must , ought , and should. 

Necessity. Must. 

Conditional. Would or any other auxiliary followed by if or unless intro¬ 
ducing a condition. 

(a ) When verb-phrases are introduced by the auxiliaries may, can, might, 
could, expressing the idea of power , permission , or possibility , the manner 
(“ mode ”) of assertion is called the “ potential.” 

( b ) When the auxiliaries must and ought , and should in one of its senses, 
are used, the manner of assertion is “ obligative,” expressing obligation or 
necessity. 

(c) When the auxiliaries are used in a conditional sense, the manner of 
making the statement is said to be “ conditional ” or “ dependent.” 

205. Emphatic Verb-Phrases.— The use of do (past did) as an auxil¬ 
iary is to form what are called emphatic verb-phrases in the present and past 
times ; as, “ I do write letters.” “ I did write the letters.” 

Remark.—But do in these sentences is really a principal verb, followed by the 
infinitive of another verb as its object ( 192 3 and 371). Thus— 

“ I did write the letters ” means ‘ I performed the act of writing the letters.’ 


LESSON 29. 

INDEPENDENT, INTRODUCTORY, AND EXPLANATORY WORDS. 

In previous lessons on analysis, we have studied the elements 
of which simple, compound, and complex sentences are com¬ 
posed. We have now to notice certain words and expressions 
that are used in sentences, or along with them, to aid us in the 
expression of thoughts. 



86 


PLAIN ENGLISH. 


206. Independent Words. — Aside from interjections and interjectional 
phrases, and the responsives, yes and no, there is another way in which words 
are used independently, that is, without depending upon the sentence with 
which they are used, or rather, without having the sentence depend upon 
them. 

f 

( a ) A word may be independent by direct address ; as— 

Gentlemen,—Your order of yesterday has been filled. 

Mr. President,—I move that a committee be appointed, etc. 

( b) The most common use of words independent by direct address occurs 
with imperative sentences (57) ; as— 

Children, [you] obey your parents. Charles, [you] shut the door. 

(c) A ‘ modal ’ word of phrase (104 f Remark ) is often made independent 
by being used parenthetically ; thus— 

We will not, however, concede that much. 

Note. —In analysis, the independent words are not considered as elements of 
the sentence with which they are used. If mentioned at all it is sufficient to 
say that they are independent words, and to tell whether they are independent 
by exclamation (interjectional), by direct address, or by parenthetical use. 

207. Introductory Words.— Under this head may be classed— 

(a) So, well, why, and that, used to introduce sentences. (108 b.) 

Remark.—The introductory that is often omitted; as, “ I told him [ that ] you 
wished to see him.” “ Had you heard [ that ] they were coming ? ” 

( b ) The indefinites it and there used as subjects. (108 a, 212 a.) 

( c ) Conjunctions used to begin sentences and connect them in thought 
with what goes before. (116. ) 

( d) Modal adverbs (104/), such as indeed, surely, certainly, however, when 
used to introduce sentences. [Bee Rule 1 for the comma, 302, Note /.] 

Remark.—When these ‘ modal ’ words, and phrases of a similar nature, are used parenthet¬ 
ically, they may be regarded as independent. (206 c.) [ See 302, Note 3. ] 

In analysis, words in class (a) are not to be considered as elements, they 
are merely introductory; those in ( b ) are indefinite subjects. The introduc¬ 
tory conjunctions ( c) should be parsed as such while the other words under 

( d) are to be considered as introductory (or’modal’) adverbs modifying the 
entire sentence rather than any particular word in it. 


PLAIN ENGLISH. 


87 


208 . Explanatory Words. —It frequently occurs that a uouu or pro¬ 
noun is added to another noun or pronoun by way of explanation ; thus— 

His brother William is attending college. 

We, the undersigned, subscribe as follows. 

The noun ‘ William ’ is added to brother to explain or show which brother is 
meant; and ‘ the undersigned ’ is used to explain who we means. 

And so in— 

Milton, the poet, was blind when he wrote his greatest poem, Paradise Tost, 

‘ the poet ’ is added to explain who Milton was, and ‘ Paradise Tost ’ is added to 
‘ poem ’ to show which poem is meant. Words added to other words in this 
way are called “ explanatory modifiers,” or (more commonly) they are said to 
be “ in apposition ” with the noun they explain. ( Apposition means ‘ in posi¬ 
tion near,’ or ‘ by the side of.’) 

209 . Pronouns are placed in apposition with either nouns or pronouns. 
When they are so used, they should have the subject or object form according 
as the noun or pronoun which they explain is a subject or an object. (237.) 

The most frequent appositional use of pronouns is that of compound pro¬ 
nouns used by way of repetition for the purpose of emphasis; thus— 

Charles himself sees the mistake. I myself saw it. She did it herself. 

Note. —The ‘explanatory modifier’ (word in apposition) may itself be mod¬ 
ified or limited by a word, a phrase, or a clause. 

210. Sentences containing explanatory modifiers, to be analyzed: 

[ For the punctuation of such sentences, see Rule 1 for comma, 302, Note 4. ] 

i. Paul, the Apostle of the Gentiles, was a man of genius. 2. Garfield, the 
soldier, became Garfield the President. 3. You Englishmen are more conserva¬ 
tive than we Americans. 4. Fulton, the man who invented the steamboat, was 
born in Pennsylvania. 5. He was guilty of treason, a crime punishable with 
death. 6. We, the people of the United States, do hereby ordain and establish 
this constitution. 

(a ) Sometimes a second explanatory word is placed in apposition with the 
first one; thus— 

‘We, the undersigned, citizens of the State of Ohio, do humbly petition,’ etc.; 
‘I, James Brown, Justice of the Peace in and for the town of Monroe,’ etc. 

211 . On account of historic importance and long association, the noun in 
apposition in some cases comes to be regarded as a part of the name, and the 
two, together with the connecting word (usually the), may be parsed as one 
word (65 7 ) ; thus— 


88 


PLAIN ENGLISH. 


‘William the Conqueror’; ‘ Alexander the Great’; ‘Mary Queen of Scots.’ 

[por the appositional use of adjectives, see 372 .] 

212. A clause may he placexl in apposition with a single word; thus— 

The old saying , ‘ A penny saved is a penny earned,’ is true. 

His motion, that the whole subject should be laid on the table, was adopted. 

Are you aware of the fact that such a law has been passed ? 

Remark.—In sentences like the last one the noun “ fact” is usually omitted, 
so that the noun clause introduced by that seems to be the object of the pas¬ 
sive verb-phrase; thus— 

I was not aware that such a law had been passed. 

I am informed that they are ready to proceed with the case. 

[a) Under this head may also be placed the explanatory phrase or clause 
following the indefinite ‘ it ’ as the subject of a sentence. Thus in— 

It is not all of life to live, It is human to err, 

the its are explained by the infinitives ‘ to live ’ and ‘ to err,’ which are the 
real subjects, the logical order of the elements being— 

To live is not all of life. To err is human. 

And so, in— 

It is true that he was proved guilty of treason, 

‘ it * is explained by the noun clause, ‘ that he was proved guilty.’ 

213. A word may stand in apposition with the statement made in a pre¬ 
ceding clause; thus— 

He has what is better, a cool head and a clear conscience. 

The boy disregarded his parents’ advice, a fault too common in these days. 

Note. —Words enclosed by marks of parenthesis are explanatory and in 
analysis should be disposed of as such unless they constitute a whole clause, in 
which case the matter may be analyzed as a separate sentence. 

[For the appositional use of infinitives, see 224 . ] 


PLAIN ENGLISH . 


89 


LESSON 30. 

ABSOLUTE CONSTRUCTIONS, ATTENDANT ELEMENTS, AND 
ADVERBIAL NOUNS. 

214 . In our last lesson we noticed the use of nouns as explanatory mod¬ 
ifiers, being placed in apposition with (in position by) the noun modified. 
Sometimes—in fact, quite often—we place a noun or pronoun and its modifi¬ 
ers alongside a whole sentence, not as modifying any part of it, but to express 
an attendant thought or accompanying circumstance, thus— 

It being a legal holiday , the banks were closed. 

The time having expired , the property was sold. 

Such expressions, or constructions, as, ‘The time having expired,’and‘It be¬ 
ing a legal holiday,’ seem to be cut loose from the rest of the sentence, that is, 
they are not closely connected with it; hence, they are called ABSOLUTE con¬ 
structions. ( Ab - ‘ from;’ solut, ‘loosed.’) 

Note .—Such a use of a noun or pronoun is most common in connection with ^ participle or 
participle-phrase, though other words and phrases are sometimes used as their modifiers. 

Since the thought expressed by it is so connected with the main thought of 
the sentence as really to be a part of it, the ‘ absolute ’ construction can hardly 
be said to be independent. And since they do not modify any particular part of 
the sentence, these absolute expressions are neither adjectival nor adverbial 
elements, though they are generally adverbial in sense, for we may say—[ See 
sentences above.] 

‘ The property was sold when ( or because ) the time had expired.’ 

‘ The banks were closed because it was a legal holiday. 

215 . The whole of the absolute expression may be called an attendant 
element. The principal word (a noun or pronoun, as time and it in the above , 
sentences) may be regarded as the base of the attendant element, and the other 
words and phrases as modifiers of this ‘base.’ 

Analyze the following sentences, pointing out in each case the base of the 
attendant element and giving its modifiers : 

[See Rule i, Note /, for use of comma, paragraph 302.] 

1. The sun having set, we returned home. 2. The moon having risen, we 
resumed our journey. 3. Supper over, we withdrew to the garden for a walk. 

4. Torch in hand, our guide led us into the dark cave. 5. The debt having been 
paid, the mortgage was canceled. 6. The deed having been signed, the money 
was handed over. 7. Business being dull, they were obliged to close. 8. The 
bookkeeper being sick, the statements were not rendered. 9. We proceeded to 


90 


PLAIN ENGLISH. 


the top, they remaining below, io. They hurried him off to jail, he protesting 
and declaring that he was innocent, u. The hour having arrived, we will pro¬ 
ceed to transact the business for which we came together. 12. Rain or shine, 
I’m going. 13. Sink or swim, live or die, survive or perish, I give m3' hand and 
my heart to this vote. 

( a ) Change the attendant elements in the sentences above into equivalent 
adverbial phrases or clauses answering some of the questions answered by ad¬ 
verbs (104.) Notice that some of the sentences are weakened by the change. 

216 . Under the head of “ attendant elements ” maybe placed the construc¬ 
tion known as “ pleonasm.” This consists in placing a noun before a sentence 
in which something is asked or asserted about the thing mentioned; thus— 

Your fathers, where are they ? 

The wind-flower and the violet, they perished long ago. 

The use of the infinitive as an attendant element is given in paragraph 226. 

217 . Adverbial Nouns. —Reference has been made to adverbial use of 
nouns. (109.) They are added to verbs and adjectives to denote a fixed or 
definite time at which a thing took place; and also to denote measure , or extent 
of time ox distance , and measure of value , of weight , of number , of age; and 
sometimes to indicate direction. 

Note. —Pronouns are sometimes (though rarely) used in the same way. When 
they are so used, they have the object form; hence these adverbial nouns and 
pronouns are sometimes called adverbial objectives. (373.) 

Examples of sentences containing adverbial nouns : 

1. That man is worth fifty thousand dollars. 2. Charles is twenty years old 
today. 3. We will fill your order tomorrow. 4. They will return next week. 
5. He.went west last summer for his health. 6. The ship sailed south four days. 
7. Apples are worth four dollars per barrel. 8. The hog weighed four hundred 
pounds. 9. That horse is fifteen hands high. 10. He is worth you and me put 
together. 

(a) Such contractions as aboard, afoot, a-hunting, a-fishing, etc., may be 
regarded and parsed as adverbial nouns. (373 a.) 


[ 


t 


PLAIN ENGLISH. 


91 


LESSON 31. 

OBJECTS OF INTRANSITIVE VERBS AND PASSIVE VERB-PHRASES, Etc. 

218 . Intransitive verbs are those which require no object to complete 
their meaning, and, in general they cannot take an object. But a few intransi¬ 
tive verbs do at times take objects of a peculiar kind, as follows: 

(a) Objects that are like the verb or related to it in meaning ; as— 

They ran a race. He dreamed a dream. I have fought a good fight. 

Such an object is called a “ cognate ” object. (374.) 

( b) Objects that point back to the subject; as— 

He walked himself w r eary. They talked themselves hoarse. 

Such an object is called “ reflexive.” ( Reflexive , ‘ bent back,’ 375 £.) 

219 . In passive verb-phrases (101), the object (receiver) of the action is 
taken for the subject. But when a transitive verb having two objects (a direct 
and an indirect ,—46) is changed into a passive phrase, and the indirect object is 
taken for the subject, the direct object retains its position as object of the pred¬ 
icate. Thus, we say— 

‘ The clerk sold her the goods,’ or— 

‘ She was sold the goods by the clerk; ’ 

‘ The druggist gave the man the wrong medicine,’ or— 

‘ The man was given the wrong medicine by the druggist; ’ 

‘ The boy asked him that question,’ or— 

‘ He was asked that question by the boy.’ 

Transpose the other sentences in paragraph 47 in the same manner. 

220 . In our last lesson it was shown that two words may be used together 
to name or represent the same thing, one of the words being ‘ in apposition ’ 
to the other to explain or emphasize it. Predicate nouns and pronouns are used 
for much the same purpose, but the manner of use is quite different. In the 
latter case, the nouns and pronouns are united to the subject by some copula or 
copula-phrase; whereas, the nouns and pronouns ‘in apposition ’ are added to 
or placed by the side of the other nouns or pronouns without any sign (word) 
of connection being used. In the former, the identity (‘ sameness ’) expressed 
by the subject and predicate words is asserted by the copula, while in the latter, 
the identity of the two names ‘ in apposition ’ is assumed, or taken for granted. 
This may be illustrated by the following examples : 

Sam is a blacksmith, and he is a happy man. 

Sam, the blacksmith, is a happy man. 


92 


PLAIN ENGLISH. 


221 . Supplemented Object. —There is another way in which nouns 
are added to nouns and pronouns without any sign of connection between 
them; thus, in— 

The President appointed him Minister to France, 

Minister (‘ or Minister-to-France ’) is added to him , not to explain who him is 
(for it does not do that), but to show what he was appointed to be. But to be , 
the ‘sign of connection,’ is not given, and the word ‘ Minister[to-France] 
seems to be added to him as though it were a part of the object; and such it is, 
for the object would not be complete without it. The following examples will 
make this still more clear : 

They made her queen. We elected him chairman. 

In the first example, the pronoun her is not the complete object of made , for 
it is not true that they made her. The word ‘ queen ’ is added to her to sup¬ 
plement (or complete) the object, the entire object being her [to be ] queen; 
and so in the second example, the completed or supplemented object is him 
[ to be\ chairman. 

{a) Adjectives also are sometimes added to the object for the same purpose, 
especially to reflexive objects (218 b) ; thus— 

Your letter made me [ ] happy. They sang themselves [ ] hoarse. 

He thinks it [ ] wrong to go there . Do you think it [ ] wise to do so ? 

Nouns and adjectives added to the object in this way are called supplements 
of the object. (375.) 

( b ) Sometimes the sign of connection {to be) is used between the apparent 
direct object and its supplement. In such cases if the supplement is a pronoum 
it must have the object form (375^) as though it were a mere appositional 
word; as— 

I knew it to be him. She supposed it to be me. He took them to be us. 

But this construction must not be confused with— 

I know it was she ; Who told you it was I? Its being he makes 110 difference, 

in which the object or subject is a noun clause, and the pronoun being in the 
predicate of the clause must have the subject form— he> she , /, etc. 


PLAIN ENGLISH. 


93 


LESSON 32. 

INFINITIVE AND PARTICIPLE CONSTRUCTIONS. 

The use of participles and infinitives as nouns, adjectives, and 
adverbs, has already been pointed out (164 and 191). There are 
other uses of these “verbals,” which, though not so well defined, 
may be classified and understood. * 

222 . Complement of Object.— The addition of an infinitive copula 
to the direct object of a verb has been suggested (221 b). In such cases the 
direct object seems to be a subject for the infinitive, but when the direct object 
is a pronoun it must have the object form, as it conforms to the preceding 
verb and not to the infinitive. In fact, the infinitive thus becomes an adjunct 
(something ‘added ’) or complement of the direct object. Thus, in— 

I asked him to go with ns, 

him is the direct object of asked , but the complete object is him to go , to go 
being the infinitive complement of the object ‘ him.’ Again, in— 

We expected them to deliver it to you, 

the direct object ‘ them ’ has to deliver as its complement. The infinitive ‘ to 
deliver ’ has its own object, it; and is modified by the adverbial phrase ‘to you.’ 

Similar to this construction (if not identical with it) is the use of the par¬ 
ticiple in— 

We found them doing the work in an indifferent way. 

They caught him trying to pass the counterfeit bill. 

(a ) The infinitive and its modifiers may be used to complete the object of 
a preposition ; thus— 

For him to undertake it alone was folly. It was hard for us to give them up. 

223 . Complement of Subject. —By changing the examples above into 
the passive form of expression, the infinitive becomes a complement to the 
subject; thus— 

He was asked to go with us. 

They were expected to deliver it to you. 

Remark.—The infinitive complement is adverbial in sense. 

: To the Teacher.-We have not attempted in this lesson to give a full treatment of 
that much-discussed element—the infinitive. The aim has been to present its more important 
uses in such a way that the student can readily comprehend them. Nice distinctions between 
these constructions and others that differ from them only slightly, should not be dwelt upon, 
as they are puzzling to the student, and of no practical value. 



94 


PLAIN ENGLISH . 




224 . Apposition. —The infinitives and participles may be used as nouns 
in apposition ; thus— 

Cyrus W. Field’s scheme , to unite the two continents by a cable, was finally 
successful. 

David’s early occupation , caring for sheep, fitted him for the inspiration of 
the twenty-third psalm. 

225 . Absolute, Independent, etc. —The use of the participle-phrase 
as an attendant element has been pointed out (214, Note). This absolute con¬ 
struction is sometimes carried to the extent of using a second phrase to 
modify the first; as— 

His being guilty having been proved, he was sentenced to be hanged. 

But such a wording is awkward and should, if possible, be avoided. 

(a) ■ Infinitives and participles are used absolutely by pleonasm ( 216) ; thus— 
To be, or not to be ?—that is the question. 

Feeding the hungry and healing the sick ,—this was His labor of love. 

(b) Infinitives and participles are used independently in exclamations; as—• 

To think of his acting thus! To die; to sleep ; to sleep ! perchance to dream. 

Banished from Rome! What’s banished but set free. 

(c) Infinitives and participles are used independently, by way of introduc¬ 
tion, or parenthetically, in the same way that modal adverbs are used; thus— 

To be candid, I have but little confidence in the plan. 

To be sure, he is not very clever but he is kind-hearted. 

There are, to be sure, people who think otherwise. 

Strictly speaking, they belong to a different class. 

Education, figuratively speaking, is the key to success. 

Remark.—In analysis, the infinitives and participles used in this way may be 
regarded as attendant elements. (215.) 

226 . From the foregoing, we have the following summary of 
the uses of infinitives and participles : 

1 . As Nouns— 

(a) Subject of a sentence. (164, 191 1 , 194, and 196.) 

(b) Object of a verb. (164, 191 2 , and 196.) 

(c) In the predicate of a sentence. (191 3 and 365 a.) 

{a) Object of a preposition. (164, 191 4 , and 196.) 

{e) In apposition with a noun. ( 224.) 

2. As Adjectives—qualifying nouns. ( 164 a and 191 a. ) 


PLAIN ENGLISH. 


95 


3. As Adverbs— 

(a ) Modifying the verb. ( 164 b and 191 b 1 .) 

(b) Modifying an adjective. ( Inf. 191 b 2 .) 

(c) Modifying an adverb. (Inf. 191c 3 .) 

(d) Adverbially in the following ways— 

1. As complements of objects. (222 and 222 a.) 

2. As complements of passive subjects. (223.) 

3. As attendant elements. (225 and 225 c .) 

4. Absolutely—by pleonasm. (225 a.) 

(a) In exclamations. ( 225 b. ) 

( b ) By way of introduction. ( 225 c .) 

5. Independently. 

227 . Tell the uses of the infinitives and participles in the 
following: 

1. Those apples are not good to eat. 2. His father warded him to be a 
preacher. 3-. I have a letter which I wish you to read. 4. We expect him to re¬ 
turn by the first of next month. 5. They were invited to come again. 6. He 
was told to remain where he was. 7. To go or to stay ?—that was a question 
hard to decide. 8. Delightful task to rear the tender thought! 9. I think it 

wrong to steal. 10. It is criminal to commit forgery. 11. Do you think it quite 
right to treat him thus? 12. We consider it a miracle that he was not killed. 
13. For him to keep quiet is next to impossible. 14. It is natural for man to 
indulge in the illusions of hope. 15. His object was to get possession of his 
father’s estate. 16. Vessels carrying rich cargoes are constantly arriving. 17. 
Their stores being exhausted, they were in danger of starving. 18. Avoid keep¬ 
ing company with the vicious. 19. His having been absent so long made it hard 
for him to keep up with his class. 20. The wind goes whistling through the 
trees. 21. Your employer has a right to expect you to serve him faithfully. 

22. If you w r ant to be promoted, try to earn more than you are getting. 

23. I am glad to think that I am not bound to make the world go right, but 
only to discover and to do, with cheerful heart, the work that God appoints.— 
Jean Ingelow. 

24. Boys flying kites haul in their white-winged birds; 

You can’t do that way when you’re flying words. 

“ Careful with fire,” is good advice we know : 

“ Careful with words,” is ten times doubly so. 

Thoughts unexpressed may sometimes fall back dead ; 

But God himself can’t kill them when they’re said! 

From “ Farm Festivals.”— Will Carleton. 


96 


PLAIN ENGLISH. 


LESSON 33. 

EXERCISES FOR ANALYSIS. 

228 . A cheerful temper, joined with innocence, will make beauty attractive, 
knowledge delightful, and wit good natured.— Anon. (221 a*) 

Earth is our work-house, and Heaven is, or should be, our store-house. Our 
chief business here is to lay up treasures there.— Dr. Grynoeus. 

Speak properly, and in as few words as you can, but always plainly; for the 
end of speech is not ostentation, but to be understood.— Penn. 

God hath a voice that ever is heard 

In the peal of the thunder, the chirp of the bird; 

It comes in the torrent, all rapid and strong, 

In the streamlet’s soft gush as it ripples along ; 

It breathes in the zephyr, just kissing the bloom ; 

It lives in the rush of the sweeping simoon ; 

Let the hurricane whistle, or warblers rejoice, 

What do they all tell thee but “ God hath a voice? ”— Eliza Cook. 

Knowledge cannot be stolen from us. It cannot be bought or sold. We may 
be poor, and the sheriff may come and sell our furniture, or drive away our cow, 
or take our pet lamb, and leave us homeless and penniless ; but he cannot lay 
the law’s hand upon the jewelry of our minds.— E. Burritt. 

Once to every man and nation comes the moment to decide, 

In the strife of Truth with Falsehood, for the good or evil side ; 

Some great cause, God’s new Messiah, offering each the bloom or blight, 
Parts the goats upon the left hand, and the sheep upon the right; 

And the choice goes by forever ’twixt that darkness and that light. 

* X- * -X- X X X X X X 

Then to side with Truth is noble, when we share her wretched crust, 

Ere her cause bring fame and profit, and ’tis prosperous to be just; 

Then it is the brave man chooses, while the coward stands aside, 

Doubting in his abject spirit, till his Lord is crucified —James Russell Lowell. 

Rugged strength and radiant beauty,—these were one in nature’s plan ; 
Humble toil and heavenward duty,—these will form the perfect man. (216.) 

— Mrs. Hale. 

Language and thoughts are inseparable. Words without thoughts are dead 
sounds; thoughts without words are nothing. To think is to speak low; to 
speak is to think loud.— Max Mueller. 


* Paragraph numbers refer to certain constructions explained in lessons just preceding this. 



PLAIN ENGLISH. 


97 


Young women, the glory of your life is to do something, and to be some¬ 
thing. You may have formed the. idea that ease and personal enjoyment are the 
ends of your life. This is a terrible mistake. Development , in the broadest 
sense and in the highest direction, is the end of your life.— J. G. Holland. 

No one loves to tell a tale of scandal but to him who loves to hear it. Team 
then, to rebuke and silence the detracting tongue, by refusing to hear. Never 
make your ear the grave of another’s good name—Anon. (221.) 

Cover them over with beautiful flowers ; 

Deck them with garlands, these brothers of ours, (208.) 

Tying so silent by night and by day, 

Sleeping the years of their manhood away,— 

Years they had marked for the joys of the brave, 

Years they must waste in the sloth of the grave. 

All the bright laurels they fought to make bloom 
Fell to the earth when they went to the tomb. 

Give them the meed they have won in the past; 

Givq them the hpnors their merits forecast; 

Give them the chaplets they won in the strife, 

Give them the laurels they lost with their life. 

Cover them over,—yes, cover them over,— 

Parent and husband and brother and lover ; 

Crown in your heart these dead heroes of ours, 

And cover them over with beautiful flowers. 

— Carleton. 

Reputation is, or should be, the result of character. Character is the sum of 
individual qualities; reputation, what is generally thought of character, so far 
as it is known. Character is like an inward and spiritual grace, of which repu¬ 
tation is, or should be, the outward and visible sign. A man may have a good 
character and a bad reputation, or a bad character and a good reputation ; al¬ 
though, to the credit of human nature, which, with all its weakness, is not 
ignoble, the latter is more common than the former.— Richard Grant White. 

“ How long I shall love him I can no more tell, 

Than, had I a fever, when I should be well. 

My passion shall kill me before I will show it, 

And yet I would give all the world he did know it; 

But oh how I sigh, when I think, should he woo me, 

I cannot refuse what I know would undo me.” * (199, 200.) 

*Of this passage from Sir George Etherege’s “She W6uld if She Could,” Mr. Richard. 
Grant White says : “ I do not know in English literature another passage in which the dis¬ 
tinction between shall and will and would and should is at once so elegantly, so variously, so 
precisely, and so compactly illustrated.” 



9S 


PLAIN ENGLISH. 


The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in 
green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul: 
he guideth me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake. Yea, though 
I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for thou art 
with me : thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me. Thou preparest a table before 
me in the presence of mine enemies : thou hast anointed my head with oil; my 
cup runneth over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my 
life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.— Twenty-third Psalm. 

LITTLE BROWN HANDS. 

They drive home the cows from the pasture, 

Up through the long, shady lane, 

Where the quail whistles loud in the wheat fields, 

That are yellow with ripening grain. 

They find in the thick waving grasses 
Where the scarlet-lipped strawberry grows ; 

They gather the earliest snowdrops 
And the first crimson buds of the rose. 

They toss new hay in the meadow; 

They gather the elder-bloom white; 

They find where the dusky grapes purple 
In the soft-tinted October light. 

They know where the apples hang ripest, 

And are sweeter than Italy’s wines ; 

They know where the fruit hangs the thickest 
On the long thorny blackberry vines. 

They gather the delicate sea-weeds, 

And build tiny castles of sand ; 

They pick up the beautiful sea-shells— 

Fairy barks that have drifted to land. 

They wave from the tall, rocking tree-tops, 

Where the oriole’s hammock-nest swings ; 

And at night-time are folded in slumber 
By a song that a fond mother sings. 

Those who toil bravely are strongest; 

The humble and poor become great; 

And so from these brown-handed children 
Shall grow mighty rulers of state. 

The pen of the author and statesman— 

The noble and wise of the land— ( 208.) 

The sword, and the chisel, and palette 
Shall be held in the little brown hand. 


—Mary H. Kront. 


PART II. 


' A 


FACTS ABOUT NOUNS. 

229 . Fact 1 . The plural of nouns is regularly formed by 
adding ^ or es to the singular. 

Remark.—There are some exceptions to this statement, but as the formation 
of plurals is a matter of spelling rather than a question of correct construction, 
the pupil is referred to what has already been said on this point. (129 to 132.) 

230. Fact 2. The possessive form of singular nouns is reg¬ 
ularly made by adding an apostrophe and the letter ^ (’s ) ; that 
of plural nouns is made by adding only the apostrophe, unless 
the plural form does not end with s, in which case the possessive 
sign is the same as for singular nouns. 

Remark.—For the possessive sign with phrases and nouns in apposition, and 
its use to denote joint or individual ownership, see paragraphs 136, 137, and 363. 

[For examples of correct usage, see 135 to 139, and 363.] 

Correct the errors in the following : [Two are correct.] 

1. The boys’ hat was lost. 2. Marys’ handkerchief was stolen. 3. The 
Teacher’s Journal. 4. The Youth’s Companion. 5. The Presidents’ Message. 
6. The Seamens Bethel. 7. A teachers’ desk. 8. The Mens Home has been 
opened. 9. The babys mother died. 10. The ship’s crew were starving. 11. The 
soldiers’ arm was broken. 12. The soldiers guns were captured while they 
slept. 13. The judges’ decision was not satisfactory. 14. The ladys’ gloves 
were returned to her. 15. The ladie’s bonnets were alike. 16. She mourned 
her brothers’death. 17. Another day’s work is done. 18. Her husbands mis¬ 
fortune made her sick. 19. Cromwell’s the Protectors’ reign was brief. 

231. Fact 3. A noun limiting a participle should have the 
possessive form. 

Examples: John’s failing to pass the examination was a great disappoint¬ 
ment to his parents. The jury’s disagreeing was a surprise to us. 



100 


PLAIN ENGLISH . 


Correct the following: 

i. The man asking the question showed that he was intelligent. 2. The boy 
attempting to get away proved that he was guilty. 3. The bank failing caused 
him to commit suicide. 4. The firm selling out was unexpected. 5. The city 
running into debt was unnecessary. 6. John quitting the farm was a mistake. 

232. Fact 4. When a numeral adjective is united with a 
noun to form a compound adjective, the singular form of the 
noun is used; but when the numeral is placed before a noun 
used adverbially to denote distance or measure (79*), the plural 
form of the noun is used. 

Examples : A three-foot measure. A four-inch pipe. A ten-pound weight. 
A platform five feet high. This piece is six yards long. [ See 319 2 . ] 

Correct the following: 

1. A two-gallons jug ; a three-miles run ; a six-quarts pail; a ten-inches sewer ; 
a fifty-feet lot; a two-feet rule ; a ten-days note. 2. He is six foot tall. 3. The 
street was three mile long. 4. The field is forty rod wide and eighty rod long. 
5. The lots are sixty foot wide. 6. The cloth was two yard wide. 

MISCELLANEOUS EXERCISES TO BE CORRECTED. 

[ Two are correct. ] 

233. [ See errors under 139. ] 1. Mary’s, the carpet weaver, house burned 

last night. 2. The committee will meet at Jones’ the carpenter’s house. 
3. The measure failed on account of the president neglecting to lay it before the 
council. 4. Did you read that account of a man being killed yesterday? 
5. Another weeks’ work is finished. 6. The horse was 15 hand high. 7. They 
bought a 30-horses power engine. 8. The hog weighed three hundred pound. 
9. You will find it at the ten cents counter. 10. The room is twelve foot long 
and nine foot broad. 11. He is five years old today. 12. We were surprised at 
the clerk doing that. 13. Had you heard of the child falling and breaking 
its arm ? 14. Did you ever hear of anyone’s acting thus ? 

FACTS ABOUT PRONOUNS. 

234. Fact 1. /, we, he , she, they , and who , are subject forms 

used in the following positions: For subjects ; in the predicate 
after a copula verb ; as the base of attendant elements ; some¬ 
times in apposition. (144, 209, and 215.) 

Examples : i. He and I were playmates. 2. He and she came yesterday, 
3. It is I. It is he. It is we. It is she. It is they. * It is who ? 4. It was I. It 


PLAIN ENGLISH. 


101 


was we. It was he. It was she. It was they. It was who ? 5. Who is it ? 

Answer: It is I, we, he, she, or they. 6. Who was it? Answer: It was I, we, 
he, she, or they. 7. He being rich, they feared to offend him. 8. The laboring 
people,—they who are the bone and sinew of the nation, have a right to expect 
this of you. [ Commit to memory examples j, 4, 5, and 6. ] 

Correct the errors in the following : [ Two are correct. ] 

1. Her and you missed it by not coming. 2. Him and me and } t ou have been 
chosen. 3. Us four were there on time. 4. You and them should come to an 
understanding. 5. I think it is her. 6. I am not sure about its having been her. 
7. It was me. 8. They supposed it was us. 9. Its being them does not alter the 
case much. 10. We knew it was they. 

Note 1 .—Errors in the pronoun form frequently occur in answering the 
question who? with a single word; as, Who is it? Answer: “Me.” (“It is 
me.”) Incorrect; the answer should be “I.” (“It is I.”) 

Note 2. But this error is most likely to occur after the conjunctions as, than , 
and but , introducing clauses, the predicates of which are omitted ; as, “ Few 
persons are as prompt as him.” Incorrect, since the meaning is, “ Few persons 
are as prompt as he [«]. 

ir. I never saw a kinder woman than her. 12. You were more fortunate than 
him and me. 13. No one saw it but him. 14. You cannot write so rapidly as 
her. 15. We are stronger than them. 16. I am older than him. 17. They are 
richer than us, but we are just as happy as them. [ See 237 b. ] 18. You are 

taller than her. 19. I can walk as fast as him. 20. Them being absent, we 
could not transact the business. 21. We being present, they said but little. 
22. Him having resigned, there was a vacancy to be filled. 23. Do you think any¬ 
one would do more for you than I ?—me who have always been your friend ? 

235. Fact 2. Me, him, her, them, us, and whom, are object 
forms. They are used : i. As objects of verbs and prepositions; 
2. Sometimes in apposition with another object. [See 144.] 

Examples: i. I met him and her. 2. You wrote to me about them. 3. To 
whom shall we go ? 4. How can I forsake my father ?—him who has done so 
much for me ? 

Correct the errors in the following: [Two are correct.] 

1. He sent his regards to you and she. 2. To who did you go for your infor¬ 
mation ? 3. Between you and I, it was him who did it. 4. Did they leave a mes¬ 
sage for he and I ? 5. He invited John and I to dinner. 6. They charged she 

and her sister full fare. 7. For who did you ask ? 8. Who did you see ? 9. With 
who did you sit ? 10. To who did you write ? 11. Do come to see us. 



202 


PLAIN ENGLISH. 


236. Fact 3. A pronoun limiting a participle takes the 
possessive form. ( 231 .) 

Examples: Their thinking so does not make it so. His being sick pre¬ 
vented my coming. Your going there at that time was unwise. 

Correct the errors in the following : [ Two are correct. ] 

1. Us staying away was a mistake. 2. They expecting that of us was absurd. 
3. v His being rich does not make him happy. 4. I have never known of him be¬ 
ing absent. 5. Did he tell you about me having an interest in it ? 6. The 

judge insisted on them answering the question. y.^Her signing , the paper set- f 
tied the whole matter. 8. You asking the question set him to thinking. 

237. Fact 4. The form of a pronoun in apposition depends 
upon whether it stands in apposition with a subject or an object. 

[ For examples of correct usage, see Fact i, example 8, and Fact 2, example 4.] 

( a ) The form of a pronoun after the comparatives as, and than, 
depends upon whether it is compared with a subject or an object. 

Examples : I am not so tall as he [is]. I admire it as much as he [does]. 

I admire it as much as [ I admire ] him. I care more for you than he [ cares for 
you*]. I care more for you than [ I care for ] him. 

( b ) The form of a pronoun after but depends upon whether the 
exception is asserted of a subject or an object. [See 376.] 

Examples : No one else cared for me but he —[cared for me]. He cared for 
no one but me —[but he cared for me]. 

Correct the following: 

1. The teacher gave we boys a half holiday. 2. Us girls are studying short¬ 
hand and typewriting. 3. I have great respect for a morally brave man, he who 
dares to do right under all circumstances. 4. Will you reject Christ ?—He who 
died for you ? 5. Can you not trust me ?—I who have always befriended you ? 

Explain how the following may be either correct or incorrect: 

6. I do not enjoy fishing as well as him. 7. The changes in the weather al¬ 
ways affect you more than I. 8. Who does more for him than us ? 9. You 

knew more about it than him. 10. You care more for that than me. Ji. I like 
you as well as them. 12. He annoyed me more than her. 13. They have more 
confidence in you than me. 


PLAIN ENGLISH. 


103 


238. Fact 5. The number of a pronoun should agree with 
the number of its antecedent. 

Examples : Each man gave attention to his own duties. The travelers fully 
realized their peril. 

Remarks.—Violations of this fact occur in the following ways : 

1. When the pronoun refers to one of the indefinite pronouns, each , either , 
ox neither (92), or when the antecedent is limited by one of these words; as, 
“ Each man was given their pay.” Say i his pay.’ “ Neither of them saved their 
money,”—‘ his (or her) money.’ “ Each one in favor of the motion may signify 
it by raising their right hand,”—‘ his right hand.’ [ See 378. ] 

2. When there is a compound antecedent introduced by neither , and con¬ 
nected by nor ; or introduced by either and connected by or ; as,’“ Neither James 
nor John wasted their time.” Say ‘ his time.’ “ Either James or John was dis¬ 
satisfied with their teacher,”—‘ his teacher.’ 

3. When the antecedent is one of the members of a compound element 
(usually the subject), but emphatically distinguished by not; as, “The man and 
not the boy offered their assistance,”—‘ his assistance.’ 

4. When the antecedent is a collective noun used in a singular sense ( 79 d) ; 
as, “ The firm was ready to move into their new store.” Say ‘ its new store/ 

Correct the errors in the following: [Two are correct.] 

1. Each one of them expressed their opinion. 2. Each must answer for 
themselves. 3. Each man undertook to defend themselves. 4. Neither boy 
treated their parents with respect. 5. Either Jane or Mary had lost their hat. 
6. Not one of them saw his mistake. 7. The girl and not her mother broke 
their arm. 8. Each of them in their turn receive the benefits to which they 
are entitled. 9. Each of the boys cheerfully do their part of the work. 

10. Neither man is willing to apologize to the other for their unkindness. 

11. Each of the clerks look after their employer’s interests so they may secure 
promotion. 12. One 0/the other were wrong in their view of it. 13. Every 
one should give their name and address each time they write. 14. Neither of 
them needs his money. 15. The society has just published their annual report. 

MISCELLANEOUS ERRORS. 

239. 1. The use of a pronoun and its antecedent as the subject of the 
same sentence ; as, “ George he promised to come with me.” Omit he. 

2. The use of hern , ourn , yourn , and hisn, for her own , or hers ’ our own , or 
ours, etc. ; also the use of hisself for himself; as, “ The fault was hern not 
mine.” “He hurt hisself badly.” ‘Say ‘The fault was hers (or ‘her own’). 
‘ He hurt himself badly.’ 


104 


PLAIN ENGLISH. 


3. Using the sign of possession with the possessive form of pronouns; as, 
her's, our's , their's, your's, it's, heave the apostrophe out. 

4. Using the pronoun them for the adjective those; as, “ Did you ask 

for them hooks? ” “ Them boys are happy.’' Say ‘ those books ; ’ ‘ those boys.’ 

5. Using it's for ’its; as, “ It's only a question of time.” “ It's useless to 
argue with him.” Say ‘ ’Tis only a question of time.’ ‘ ’Tis useless to argue 
with him.’ 

6. Using who to relate to animals or inanimate objects ; as ; “ The dog who 
met us at the gate looked ferocious.” Say ‘ that' or ‘ which met us at the gate.’ 
[ See 85, Remark, and 347 b and c. ] 

7. Each other, One another. — Each other applies to but two; one an - 
other applies to t a larger number. “ The two are closely related to one another.” 
Say ‘ to each other' “ The seven differed from each other.” Say ‘ one another .’ 

8. Something for somewhat. —Using the pronoun ‘ something ’ for the 
adverb ‘ somewhat; ’ as, “ They look something alike.” Say ‘ somewhat alike.’ 

9. Myself.— This pronoun may be used as a reflexive object ( 21S b) or in ap¬ 
position for the sake of emphasis; but otherwise, not as the subject or the 
direct object of a verb. Hence, “They invited John and myself'' “Mrs. A. and 
myself" is incorrect. Use / instead of myself. 

10. Somebody else’s, Anyone else’s.— These and similar expressions are 
incorrect; they should be somebody's else, anyone's else. Else , in this position, 
is an adjective meaning ‘other,’ or ‘besides.’ It would be absurd to say some¬ 
body besides's, anyone other's. 

MISCELLANEOUS EXERCISES TO BE CORRECTED. 

{Three are correct.] 

240 . 1. No one else was hurt but he. 2. Nobody came but them. 3. Some 
one else’s voice was heard. 4. Nobody’s else would do. 5. My wife and myself 
shall be glad to see you. 6. There aint any use in trying to please him. 7. I 
haint heard from him for a long time. 8. It’s difficult to hear it’s voice. 9. If 
you find a noun or pronoun you must parse them. 10. The horse who refused 
to go knew more than him. 11. They are all here but her. 12. If any one 
doubts my word let them say so. 13. To who did you lend my knife ? 
14. There are people whom might be trusted. 15. Who did you write to? 
16. Are you older than him? 17. That’s her. 18. I told you it was them. 

19. The majority was disposed to adopt the measure which they at first opposed. 

20. They were all frightened but I. 21. Charles he knew that his father objected 

to him going. 22. Did you hear about me being sick ? 23. We regret our not 

being able to accommodate you. 24. Where-did you get them apples ? 25. That 

is something like a story I heard yesterday. 


PLAIN ENGLISH. 


105 


FACTS ABOUT ADJECTIVES AND ADVERBS. 

Remark.—The two modifying parts of speech, adjectives and adverbs, are so 
similar in many respects that the facts concerning them and the errors in their 
use can be treated side by side better than separately. 

241. Fact 1. Position and Order of Adjectives. —Adjectives 
are usually placed before the nouns they qualify though they 
sometimes follow them. They should not be unnecessarily sepa¬ 
rated from their nouns. (52 a.) 

Note /.—When two or more adjectives are used to qualify a noun, the one most closely con¬ 
nected with the object described is placed next the noun, and the others are arranged in like 
order,—the one least connected with it being placed farthest from the noun. If the adjectives 
follow instead of precede the noun, this order is reversed. When there is no difference in the 
rank or importance of the adjectives, they should be placed in the order that will sound best, 
the longest usually nearest the nouns they limit. 

Examples: The frail little craft bounded over the clear blue waves. The 
dew drops on the sweet-scented clover sparkle in the morning sunlight. A 
dilapidated wooden building w^as all that remained. The old oaken bucket, the 
iron-bound bucket. 

“ Full many a gem of purest ray serene, 

The dark unfathomed caves of ocean bear.” 

Note 2.— The words first and last, when used with numeral adjectives to limit nouns, are 
placed before the numeral; as—The first ten pages ; the last two hours ; the first two houses. 

Correct the following: 

1. A young, wide-awake, industrious man is wanted. 2. A large, brick, new 
house has been built there. 3. The golden, beautiful sunset delighted us. 
4. A banquet, silver, handsome lamp was presented. 5. You may have the two 
first trees in each of the three first rows. 6. He bought a gold, large, pen. 
7. The decrepit, old, poor man needs help. 8. Mr. A. drives a bay, fine horse. 

Remark.—Probably the most common error in the position of adjectives 
consists in placing descriptive adjectives so that they qualify the amount or 
quantity of a thing mentioned instead of describing the thing itself; thus— 

A new box of books; a hot pail of water; a ripe basket of fruit; a new load 
of hay ; an old barrel of clothes; a new stock of goods; the cold cup of water; 
a green load of wood; a fresh bunch of flowers; a new pair of shoes. 

242. Fact 2. Position of Adverbs. —Adverbs are generally 
placed before adjectives or adverbs, after a single verb, or after 
the first word in a verb-phrase. (52 b , c .) 

Example : He is very attentive, behaves quite well , and is highly esteemed. 


106 


PLAIN ENGLISH. 


Remark.—The position of such adverbs as only , also , and merely , depends so 
much upon the meaning to be conveyed that we cannot always decide whether 
the adverb is correctly or incorrectly placed unless we know what the speaker 
or writer means to say. Thus, in ‘ We only saw Charles/ and ‘ We saw only 
Charles ’ (or ‘We saw Charles only,’) we have a different meaning, though each 
of the sentences is correct. The first conveys the idea that we only saw 
Charles,—that we did not speak to him, or something 6f that kind. The other 
means that we saw only Charles; that is, we did not see anyone but Charles. 

Correct such of the following sentences as are obviously incor¬ 
rect. In the others, change the position of the adverb and note 
the change in meaning: 

i. I like never to hear a person slander his neighbor. 2. He has been misin¬ 
formed certainly. 3. I only can hope for that. 4. We are only following your 
orders. 5. He was only elected last week. 6. They have only been requested 
to sell three of them. 7. I never intend to go there again. 8. The woman and 
child were only saved. 9. Do not merely read this pa^e but read the other also. 
10. If you wish to teach the science of your language only, you may not be 
pleased with this work. ir. The French nearly lost five thousand men. 
12. The productions mostly consist of corn and cotton. 13. The Indians chiefly 
subsist by hunting and fishing. 14. I only spoke to him ; I did not speak to 
anyone else. 15. He is considered generally insane. 

Note. —An adverb should never be placed between an infinitive verb and its “sign” or be¬ 
tween a verb and its infinitive object. 

16. We are now prepared to promptly fill all orders. 17. It began to slowly dis¬ 
appear. 18. You can depend upon him to faithfully serve you. 19. It is unwise 
to hastily decide such a question. 20. You should learn carefully to choose 
your words. 21. They are not disposed to quietly submit to the injustice. 
22. He has been heard repeatedly to say it. 23. We were too busy to then at¬ 
tend to the matter. 24. I hope to soon return. 25. They were obliged to forci¬ 
bly take possession. 

243. Fact 3. When a verb asserts an action on the part of 
the subject, the qualifying word that follows the verb is an ad¬ 
verb ; but when the verb asserts merely a quality of the subject, 
or its being (existence) in a certain state, it (the verb) is fol¬ 
lowed by the adjective. 

Examples : The sea was calm. He spoke calmly. The water looks clear. 
Now we see clearly. She appears (‘ seems ’) anxious. They listened anxiously. 
The tree stands firm. He held on firmly. [See 352^.] 

Note .—There is an apparent exception to Fact 4, in such sentences as “ The eagle flies high ; ” 
but in such cases the word in question may be used either as an adjective or as an adverb. (106 a.) 


PLAIN ENGLISH. 


107 


Correct the errors in the following : [Three are correct.] 

i. The vessel arrived safely. 2. The post stood firmly. 3. He walked quiet. 
4. He spoke hasty. 5. He stood idly, watching the men at work. 6. They ride 
rapid. 7. It tastes sweetly. 8. She smiled sweet. 9. He spoke plain, distinct, 
and correct. 10. His strength is near gone. 11. The work is easy done. 12. I 
stepped softly. 13. The cushion feels softly. 14. That sounds harsh. 15. They 
reached home safe. 16. He sees good for one so old. 17. No one could say it 
more forcible than he could. 18. That boy works good. 19. He behaves bad. 
20. It looks badly. 21. He looks sickly. 

244. Fact 4. Many adjectives and a few adverbs are regu¬ 
larly compared by adding the suffixes er and est, or the prefixes 
more and most , to the positive degree in ascending comparison, 

or in prefixing less and least in the descending comparison. 

[ For examples, see 147 and 151. ] 

( a ) The comparative degree is used when two objects are compared ; the 
superlative or sublative when more than two are compared. 

Examples: He is the taller of the two. She is the youngest of the three. 
Ruth is less handsome than Jane, but she is the more intelligent of the two. 

( b ) Some adjectives do not admit comparison. (149.) 

(c) Double comparisons are incorrect. (149, Note.) 

{d) When an object is compared with all others of its kind, the word other 
should follow the comparative than. 

Example: Bert is quicker than any other boy in school. 

If other were left out of this sentence, it would mean that Bert is not in 
school; or, if he is known to be one of the school, the sentence without other 
would mean that Bert is quicker than himself,—which is absurd. 

This amounts to a superlative comparison, for the example above is equiva¬ 
lent to “Bert is the quickest boy in school.” The following sentence will 
further illustrate this point: 

This paper has a larger circulation than any other in Ohio. 

To say that “This paper has the largest circulation of any in Ohio,” or “of 
any other in Ohio,” would be self-contradictory and absurd. We may, however, 
employ the superlative form of comparison in such sentences by using of all 
and omitting any , other, or any other ; thus— 

This paper has the largest circulation of all [ the papers ] in Ohio; or, Of all 
the papers in Ohio, this [paper] has the largest circulation. 


108 


PLAIN ENGLISH. 


Correct the errors in the following : [ Two are correct. ] 

i. He is the smallest of the two. 2. Of the two she is the thoughtfulest. 
3. Which is the largest end ? 4. Which is the broadest, the top or the bottom ? 
5. Which is the oldest, you or John ? 6. Which is the tallest, Henry or James ? 
7. This is the better of the two. 8. This horse trots the fastest of the two. 

9. Of the two machines, that one costs the most, but it is the easiest sold. 

10. He was the most forlornest looking object I ever saw. 11. She is more 
carefuler than she was formerly. 12. He is less particular now. 13. A more 
happier pair you never met. 14. This is a more quicker way. 15. He was the 
most wittiest person I ever met. 16. They bought a more cheaper kind. 
17. It is the most perfect work. 18. That is the most complete cyclopedia 
published. 19. This was more universal than that. 20. A more hopeless case 
could not be imagined. 21. The large box was the nearest empty. 22. This 
store sells more goods than any store in this city. 23. We do the largest whole¬ 
sale business of any other firm in the West. 

245. Fact 5. The demonstrative adjectives this and that 
change their form to agree with the number of the noun they 
limit. [For examples, see paragraph 150.] 

Note. —An error in the use of these and those is usually followed by an error in the verb- 
form, as, “ These kind are very rare.” Say ‘ This kind is ’—etc. 

* (< 2 ) The indefinite article an drops the n before words begin¬ 
ning with a consonant sound. [ See 150 a and 349 b. ] 

Correct the following: 

1. He is a honest man. 2. The child had an large apple. 3. He gave me a 
answer. 4. The train is a hour late. 5. He was given a opportunity. 6. A 
ounce of prevention is worth more than an hundred pounds of cure. 7. War 
calls out many an hero, and exhibits many an heroic act. 8. These class of 
goods are not profitable. 9. Those kind are less expensive. 

246. Fact 6. When two negative words are used in the 
same clause, the second destroys the first. 

Correct the following: 

o 

i. I don’t want no coffee. 2. He didn’t have no money. 3. He can’t say 
nothing to you. 4. He doesn’t know nothing about ,it. 5. She doesn’t go no¬ 
where. 6. He doesn’t stop for nothing. 

MISCELLANEOUS ERRORS. 

247. 1. An (or a) is incorrectly used after kind , sort , and similar words 


PLAIN ENGLISH. 


109 


\ 

followed by of. Thus, “Do you know what kind of an apple that is?” “I 
never heard of that sort of a machine.” Omit the an (or a) after of. 

2. Afraid.—This adjective is much used as though it were a transitive verb ; 
as, “ I am afraid that it is lost.” “ He is afraid you will get hurt.” “ We were 
afraid that he would be defeated.” The correct word in such sentences is the 
transitive verb fear. Say ‘ I fear [that] it is lost.’ ‘ He fears you will get hurt/ 
‘We feared that ’—etc. (207 a, Remark.) 

3. Already.—This adverb is very often misused or, rather, misplaced , prin¬ 
cipally by those of German birth and rearing. Thus, it is common to hear such 
expressions as “ I knew that already,” “ I have finished it already.” The awk¬ 
wardness of these and similar sentences comes from using already after the 
predicate instead of placing it before the verb or between the twa parts of the 
verb-phrase, thus : “ I already knew that.” “ I have already finished it.” How¬ 
ever, the “ already,” in such sentences as the last one, is really superfluous. 

4. Back for ago .—“I heard from him awhile back .” “ I saw him some time 
backP Say ‘ awhile ago,’ ‘ some time ago.’ 

5. Better for more .—“ It is better than a week since I saw him.” Say ‘ It is 
more than a week since I saw him.’ 

6. Good.—This already overworked adjective is made to do service for the 
adverb well; as, “ She sings good.” “He writes good.” Say ‘She sings well.’ 

‘ He writes well.’ 

7. Here and There.—These two adverbs are incorrectly used after the ad¬ 
verbs this and that; as, “This here book is more interesting than that there 
one.” Say ‘ This book is more interesting than that one.’ 

8. How for that .—The adverb how is sometimes incorrectly used for the con¬ 
junction that; as, “ Did I tell you how he thought we ought to allow him a dis¬ 
count? ” Say ‘ he thought that ’—etc. 

9. Least.—“ Of two evils choose the least.” Say ‘ the less / 

10. Most for almost .—111 the following, and similar sentences, the adjective 
most is incorrectly used for the adverb almost: “I see him most everyday.” 
“ We are most there.” “ He was most starved.” Say ‘ almost every day,’—etc. 

11. Past for by —The adjective past is very commonly misused for the prep¬ 
osition by; as, “Have you seen him go past here lately?” “I went past his 
house yesterday.” Say ‘ by here ; ’ ‘ by his house.’ 

Past is correctly used as an adverb when there is no object following it; as, 
“ The bullets whistled past.” 

“ At times, from the fortress across the bay, 

The alarum of drums swept past.”— Longfellow. 


110 


PLAIN ENGLISH. 


12. Plenty for plentiful. —The noun plenty is incorrectly used for the ad¬ 
jective plentiful in such sentences as, “ Peaches are plenty this year.” 

13. Real, which is an adjective, is often incorrectly used in the place of very 
or quite to modify a verb or an adjective; as, “ I am real glad to see you.” “ It 
looks real nice.” Say ‘ I am very glad to see you.’ ‘ It looks very nice.’ 

14. ' Since for ago.—“ He visited us about two weeks since.” Say ‘ two weeks 
ag°: Since has reference to a lapse of time ; as, “ It is a year since I saw him.” 

15. Some.— This adjective is often misused for the adverb somewhat , as in 
the following sentences: ‘‘I am some tired.” ‘‘They were some weary with 
their long tramp.” Say ‘ I am somewhat tired.’ ‘ They were somewhat ’—etc. 

16. Sociable for social.— The adjective sociable is often misused for social, 
both as a noun and as an adjective. Thus, “ A sociable ( or ‘ sociable gathering ’) 
will be held at Mr. D.’s house next Wednesday evening.” Say ‘a social ’ or ‘a 
social gathering.’ “ Sociable ” is an adjective applicable only to persons. 

17- Sooner for rather “ I would sooner go than not.” Say ‘ I would rather 
go than not.’ 


18. Such a for so .—The use of the adjective-phrase such a (‘ kind ’) for the 
adverb so is a very common error ; as, “ I never saw*such a large apple,” which 
means, literally taken, ‘ I never saw a large apple of that kind.’ It should be 
* I never saw so large an apple.’ (69 s .) 


19. The “ Articles.”— In comparing a thing with itself in different capacities, 
the article should not be used a second time. Thus—“ That horse is a better 
pacer than trotter,” means that the horse paces better than he trots. But if we 
should say “ That horse is a better pacer than a trotter,” our language would 
mean that the horse paces better than a trotting horse paces. So the sentences-* 


Corporal Brown was as good a fighter as an officer, 

Mr. Edwards is a better teacher than a minister, 

do not mean the same as when the an (or a) is omitted after the comparatives 
than and as. So we find that the article, though a little word, is sometimes 
a very important one. Its use or omission may change the meaning of the 
entire sentence. 


(a) When connected adjectives describe the same thing , the article should 
not be used, except before the first descriptive; but if the adjectives describe 
different things, the article should be repeated. Thus, “ a red and white fla«-” 
means one flag, while “a red and a white flag” means two flags. 

(b) When connected nouns denote different things , the article should be re- 
peated, but if the nouns are but different names for the same thing, the article 
should not be repeated; thus, “the cashier and the bookkeeper” means two 
persons, while “ the cashier and bookkeeper” means one 


PLAIN ENGLISH. 


Ill 


( c ) The article should not be used before a title or name used merely as 
such; as, “The Queen conferred on him the title of Earl ” (not an Earl.) 
“ The youngest son of a duke is called Marquis ” ( not a Marquis.) 

20. Very. —This word is sometimes incorrectly used to modify the perfect 
participle of a verb ; as, “ She is a very educated woman.” “ He was very pleased 
to hear from you.” Say ‘ very well educated; ’ ‘ very much pleased.’ 

21. What for ? for why? as, “ What did you do that for?” or, worse still, 
“ What for did you do that ? ” Say, merely, ‘ Why did you do that ? ’ 

22. Whether or no. —This expression is incorrect. The adverb should be 
not —‘ whether or not; ’ as, “ I shall go whether or not,” the meaning of which is, 
‘ I shall go whether [ it rains ] or [ does ] not ’ [ rain ], or something of that kind. 
“ You must do it whether or not;” that is, ‘ whether [you will] or [will] not.' 

23. Worse for more. —“I want to see him worse than ever.” Say ‘ more 
than ever.’ 

MISCELLANEOUS EXERCISES TO BE CORRECTED. 

[ Three are correct. ] 

248 . 1. It was such a warm day. 2. Of two methods adopt the shortest. 

3. The old woman has a fresh basket of eggs. 4. You must go whether or no. 
5. The boy worked faithful. 6. The deep cannon’s roar aroused them. 7. The 
clock ticks softly. 8. The speaker only talked of a few things. 9. The shrill 
whistle’s scream broke the solemn night’s stillness. 10. Not only he was poor 
but lazy. 11. It requires a few comparatively short years. 12. They are most 
done. 13. We have a fine lot of silk ladies’ gloves. 14. Otherwise, the parties 
will not only be disappointed but the goods will be left on our hands. 15. The 
boat glides smooth. 16. He owned a rich tract of land. 17. Did you ever see 
such a careless fellow ? 18. He is older than any one in his family. 19. The flea 
can jump farther than any insect of its size. 20. The tree is forty feet high. 
21. Will you buy two pair of boots? 22. Which of them two boys can ride the 
best ? 23. It is not such a great distance as I thought it was. 24. Which is the 
oldest of the two ? 25. He had two coats, an old and new one. 26. The elephant 
has a powerful and a flexible trunk, which he always carries \mh him on a 
journey. 27. I counted thirteen sails of vessels lying at anchor in the stream. 
28. The bear was hungry and began to growl savage. 29. He rode past me so 
quick I scarce saw him. 30. That is easier said than done. 31. I am real hungry. 
32. She never considers the quality, but merit of her visitors. 33. I was aware 
of that already. 34. What do you suppose he asked that question for ? 35. He 
would make a better farmer than a lawyer. 36. It is our intention to still 
further reduce the running expenses. 37. This paper has a larger circulation 
than any other paper in the world. 38. Of all her classmates, that girl is the 
brightest. 39. This kind of an error is very common. 


112 


\ 

PLAIN ENGLISH. 


FACTS ABOUT VERBS. 

249. Fact 1. In asserting present action, possession, or ex¬ 
istence, or past existence, the singular or the plural form of a 
verb is used according as it is necessary to have it agree with a 
singular or plural subject. 

Exception : The pronoun / takes the plural form of the verb to agree with 
it as the first person singular, except when mere present or past existence is 
asserted by am or was. [ For examples, see paragraphs 157-S-9. ] 

Correct the errors in the following : [ Two are correct. ] 

1. The men quits work at six o’clock. 2. The trains was late. 3. How does 
your plans succeed ? 4. The skies was clear. 5. The clouds has disappeared. 
6. The stars shines. 7. Those papers is valuable. 8. I see him almost every 
day. 9. You was absent. 10. There is several waiting. 11. They was delighted 
with the pictures. 12. We was disappointed. 13. The switchmen has struck. 
14. Five clerks was employed. 15. The books is interesting. 16. The nights 
was clear. 17. The days is getting longer. 18. Their ^prices seem reasonable. 
19. The cars goes slowly across the bridge. 20. The farmers works hard. 

Remark.—Errors in the number-form of the verb are most likely to occur when the singular 
subject is followed by a phrase containing a plural noun. 

21. A pound of raisins cost twenty cents. 22. The book of laws were lost. 
23. A carload of horses were shipped last week. 24. The number of depositors 
have greatly increased. 25. A bill of the goods were forwarded. 26. None of 
the men understand you. 

(a) Nouns that have but one form for both numbers (132) 
require the singular or the plural verb, according to the sense in 
which they are used. Thus, we say— 

‘The sheep were sheared,’ or ‘ the sheep was sheared.’ ‘ Deer like salt,’ or 
‘ a deer likes salt.’ ‘ These fish are fresh,’ or ‘ this fish is fresh.’ 

Remark.—Whether the noun in such cases is used in the singular or plural sense may gen¬ 
erally be known by the article .or the demonstrative preceding it. ( 245.). 

(£) When the subject is a collective noun (79/) in the singu¬ 
lar, the singular form of the verb is used if reference is made 
to the body or collection as a whole; but if the individuals are 
referred to, the plural form of the verb is used. 

Examples: The audience was composed of men and boys. The audience- 


PLAIN ENGLISH 


113 


were pleased with the lecture. The army was defeated. The army were loyal 
to their commander. 

Remark .—Pleasure and loyalty are qualities which cannot be asserted of collections. 

(c) When the subject is plural in form, though either singular 
or plural in sense, the plural form of the verb is used. 

Examples : The goods have been forwarded by express. The assets of the 
firm are as follow. His remains rest in Westminster Abbey. 

Note. When the plural-form noun may be displaced by a synonym having the singular 
form, the singular of the verb may be used. The news (‘ intelligence ’ or ‘ information ’) was 
gladly received. 

27. Those cannon was captured at Gettysburg. 28. That trout were hard to 
catch. 29. The committee were composed of two ladies and one gentleman. 
30. The committee are ready to report. 31. The army were disbanded. 32. The 
crowd was impatient. 33. The congregation were large. 34. The class are 
small. 35. The class was disappointed. 36. The crew was cruelly treated. 
37. The crew were reduced in numbers. 38. The crowd are very noisy. 39. The 
fleet of vessels are a pretty sight. 40. A party of friends is coming. 41. Our 
party were made up of ladies and gentlemen. 42. The number of mistakes 
were a matter of surprise to us. 43. A number of mistakes was made. 44. The 
scissors was lost. 45. The ashes is in the way. 46. Molasses has risen in price. 
47. His clothes was ruined. 

Use each of the following words as the subject of a sentence : Shears , wages , 
measles, riches , tongs , mumps. 

250. Fact 2. Whether the singular or plural form of a verb 
shall be used with a compound subject depends upon whether 
the assertion is made about one thing or more than one. 

[For examples, see paragraph 155. ] 

(a) Singular subjects connected by and require the plural 
form of the verb. 

Exception /. When the nouns connected by and form a single name, or re¬ 
fer to the same person, the singular form of the verb is used; as, “ The wife 
and mother kneels in prayer.” “ The husband and father was gone.” 

Exception 2. When the nouns connected by and are emphatically distin¬ 
guished by each , every , or no , the singular form of the verb is used ; as, “ Each 
day and each hour gives opportunities.” 

Exceptions. When nouns of different numbers are connected by and, fol¬ 
lowed by not , the verb agrees with the first one; as, “ Money and not promises 
is what we want.” “ Votes and not talk were what the candidate needed.” 


114 


PLAIN ENGLISH. 


(b ) Singular subjects connected by or or nor, or by any con¬ 
junction that emphatically distinguishes one of the subjects from 
the other, require the singular form of the verb. 

Examples: Either the horse or the cow is to be sold. Neither the President 
nor his secretary was present. The man as well as the boy was guilty. Wheat 
but not corn was raised there in abundance. 

Exception /. When the members of a compound subject connected by or or 
nor are of different numbers, the verb agrees with the last one ; as, “ Either he 
or they are to blame.” “ One or both were present.” “ Either you or he is re¬ 
sponsible.” “ Neither you, he, nor I deserve the credit for it.” 

Correct the errors in the following sentences, and tell which 
statement or exception applies to each : [Two are correct.] 

i. That boy and his sister goes to our school. 2. The man and his son 
was both blind. 3. Every man, every woman, and every child were numbered. 
4. All work and no play make Jack a dull boy. 5. Principle and not policy are 
to be thought of first. 6. The horse together with the buggy and a set of har¬ 
ness is to be sold by auction tomorrow. 7. “ Sunshine and Shadow ” are the 
title of a book. 8. The boy’s mother but not his father deserve great credit. 

9. The ambition and the avarice of man is the sources of his unhappiness. 

10. Her beauty and not her talents attract attention. 11. Out of the same mouth 
proceeds blessing and cursing. 12. Gold or U. S. Treasury notes is a legal ten¬ 
der for the payment of debts. 13. Neither the house nor the lot are worth 
much. 14. Good order in our affairs, and not mean savings, produce great prof¬ 
its. 15. Whether one person or more were concerned in it, we cannot tell. 
16. Riches, honor, and pleasure, steals away the heart from religion. 17. Neither 
the captain nor the sailors was acquainted with the coast. 18. One or both of 
the witnesses was present. 19. Are one or both of the banks closed ? 

251. Fact 3. When who , which , or that , is the subject of 
•a clause, the verb in the clause agrees with the antecedent. 

[ For examples, see paragraph 118 a. ] 

Correct the following: 

1. These are the times that tries men’s souls. 2. It was the poor people who 
was oppressed. 3. The statistics which has been published are not complete. 
4. The questions that is to be discussed are of interest to all. 

♦ 

252. Fact 4. When who , which , or what , is used in asking 
a question, the number of a verb depends upon whether the ques¬ 
tion is asked about one thing or more than one. ( 154.) 


PLAIN ENGLISH. 


115 


Correct the following: 

i- Who is those boys? 2. What was the questions? 3. Which was those? 
4. Which is the ones you want ? 5. .Who was his assistants ? 

253. Fact 5. When the indefinite ‘ there ’ is the subject, the 
verb conforms to the number of the noun or pronoun following it. 

Examples : There is one thing to be done. There are several points that 
should be settled. (207 b .) 

Correct the following : 

1. There is a few questions I would like to ask. 2. There was several ac¬ 
cidents happened. 3. There is few so careful as him. 4. There has been others 
who was just as deserving as her. 5. There was some doubts about it. 

254. Fact 6 . In passive verb-phrases and phrases denoting 
completed time, the perfect participle of the verb is used. (166 d .) 

Examples: I have seen, an end of all perfection. She has gone to walk. 
The letter has been written. He had lain there three days. They were given 
nothing in return. It was begun long ago. He was beaten. 

Correct the errors in the following : [Two are correct.] 

i. The apples were froze on the trees. 2. He has been saw there by several. 
3. The ship was sank by the enemy. 4. The meal was ate in silence. 5. Our 
kindness was forgot. 6. The letter was wrote hastily. 7. I am nearly froze. 
8. The work was did for I done it myself. 9. The price of wheat has fallen. 
10. He has wore that hat a year. 11. The check should have been wrote with ink. 
12. You should have came. 13. I would have came if I could. 14. The man had 
became discouraged. 15. I have came a long distance. 16. The house is began 
but not finished. 17. My knife was stole. 18. Have you saw him lately? 
19. The horses have ran away. 20. He should have took a receipt. 21. They will 
have saw their best days. 22. We shall have ran the race and finished the 
course. 23. They were driven out of their own homes. 

255. Fact 7. In stating general truths, and in speaking of 
present facts, the present-time form of the verb is used. 

Examples: Plato taught that the soul is immortal. Columbus was scoffed 
at for believing that the earth is round. 

Correct the following: 

r. Christ taught that love was the fulfilling of the law. 2. The teacher told 
us that every star was a sun. 3. Who was that man we just passed ? 4. Am I 
glad ? I should say I was. 5. He proved that the earth was round. 


116 


PLAIN ENGLISH . 


256. Fact 8. In subordinate clauses of condition (188) intro¬ 
duced by if\ though , or unless , the past were is used in the pres¬ 
ent time, with either singular or plural subjects. Were is alsa 
used to denote present time in an objective clause after a wish , 
and after as if or as though , connecting an adverbial clause to a 
present-time verb. (188 a , b. ) 

“ If 1 were a voice, a persuasive voice, I would travel this wide world o’er.” 

“ Would she were mine, and I today, like her a harvester of hay.” 

[For further examples, see 188.] 

Correct the errors in the following : [One is correct.] 

i. If I was him I should go. 2. If he was here he would decline the nom¬ 
ination. 3. If I was him I should resign. 4. If we was to tell you, you would 
not believe it. 5- Would that she was here. 6. I wish you was going with us. 
7. Don’t you wish it were yours ? 8. Was he ever so great his conduct would 

debase him. 9. If it was otherwise we might consider your proposal. 10. Un¬ 
less I was sure of it I should not stay. 11. They act as if they was glad of it. 

257. Fact 9. Shall with the first person, and will with the 
second and third persons, denote simply future time, so far as the 
speaker is concerned. Will with the first person, and shall with 
the second and third persons, indicate a promise or determination 
on the part of the speaker. 

Note—Should, and would follow the rule for shall and will. 

[For examples, see paragraph 173 b; also 366, and the last exercise on p. 97.] 

Correct the following: 

1. I promise you it will be as you wish it. 2. He will do the work for I shall 
compel him to do it. 3. I will drown for nobody shall help me. 4. I hope I 
will see you soon. 5. You will hear from me tomorrow. 6. He will obey my 
rules or I shall punish him. 7. When will we three meet again ? 8. I think I 

will not go. 9. Shall you promise me to see to it ? 10. Will we go to the con¬ 

cert tonight ? 

MISCELLANEOUS ERRORS. 

258. 1. Using a perfect participle to express past time. 

Correct the following: 

1. We are quite sure he done it. 2. I seen him there yesterday. 3. They come 


PLAIN ENGLISH. 


117 


V boat last night. 4. The boy run as fast as he could. 5. I eat my breakfast in 
a hurry. 6. He rung the bell violently and we all sprung to our feet. 7. She 
sung two pieces. 8. The sun sunk from sight. 

2. Using a present perfect verb-phrase to denote a time previ¬ 
ous to that indicated by a subordinate clause following it. 

Example : I have graduated from the high school, since when I have been 
attending the business college. Omit the first have. 

3. Using the “ auxiliary” part of a verb-phrase by itself after 
cts or than , when the rest of the phrase has not been given in the | 
preceding clause. 

Note. This is one of the most common errors in every-day talk and writing-. 

Examples : I will give as much as he has. You have done more for me than ^ 
they would. In these examples, the rest of the verb-phrase after has and would 
cannot be supplied from the same sentence; for “as he has give ” and “than^f 
they would done ” do not make sense. Say ‘ as much as he has given ; ’ ‘ more 
than they would do ,’ or ‘ would have done.’ 

Remark.—When the correct form of the principal verb can be supplied from 
the same sentence , it may be omitted; as, “ You have not tried as hard as he 
has,” or simply, “ as hard as he.” (351.) 

4. Using the infinitive “ sign ” without its verb ; as— 

“ I have never gone there and do not intend to.” “ He has not paid it nor 
does he expect to.” [See Error 3 above. However, the Remark under Error 3 
does not apply to the use of the infinitive “ sign ” by itself. ] Say ‘ and do not 
intend to go ; ’ ‘ nor does he expect to do so,’ or ‘ to pay it.’ 

5. Using the present perfect form of an infinitive after the 
past form of a verb, or after a present perfect verb-phrase; as— 

He intended to have gone. They had hoped to have been invited. Say ‘ He 
intended to go.’ ‘ They had hoped to be invited.’ 

6. Using an indefinite expression as to time before a definite 
time mentioned in the same sentence ; as— 

I used to do that last fall. We used to go there last year. Say ‘ I did that 
last fall.’ ‘ We went there last year.’ 

7. Using the active form of a verb with a passive meaning; as—^ 

One tires of hearing it. The reader soon wearies of such stuff. Say ‘ be¬ 
comes tired,’ ‘ grows, or becomes weary ’— etc. " 







118 


PLAIN ENGLISH. 


8. Using the wrong subject for a passive verb-phrase; as— 

All bills are requested to be paid at once. By which is meant ‘ All persons 
(or customers) are requested to pay their bills at once.’ 

9. Using the archaic and the common forms of verbs in the 
same sentence. (169.) 

Example : If thou will be diligent thou shall succeed. Us zyou instead of 
thou , or change will and shall to the archaic forms— wilt and shalt. (377.) 

10. Aint, etc.—The use of aint for ‘ is not,’ or ‘ am not; ’ haint for ‘ has not,’ 
or ‘ have not; ’ taint for ‘ it is not.’ Such expressions are very slovenly. 

11. As follows, As follow.—When that which may be inserted after as, 
the verb should be follows; but when the construction requires those which , the 
verb should be follow. Examples: “His statement was as [that which] fol¬ 
lows! “ His words were as [ those which ~\ follow." 

When the predicate before as is complete, or when the things referred to are 
mixed with other matter, as follozvs should be used, the meaning in such cases 
being ‘ as [ shown by that which ] follows.' For examples, see paragraphs 55, 
69, 70, 85, 168, 258 19 , and 303 1 . 

12. Don’t for doesn't. —The use of don't for doesn't is a very common 

error. The former is a contraction of ‘ do not,’ the latter of ‘does not.’ When 
you are in doubt as to which you should use, think or speak the two words in 
full to see if the verb agrees with the subject. For example : “ He don’t 

understand it.” This sentence in full would read “ He do not understand it,” 
which is incorrect, just as it would be incorrect to say “We doesn’t understand 
it,” both being contrary to Fact 1 (249). The former should be ‘ He doesn’t 
understand it; ’ the latter, ‘We don’t understand it.’ / is the only singular' 
subject with which don't should be used. 

13. Daresn’t.—This contraction is often incorrectly used with a plural sub¬ 
ject; as, “You daresn’t do it,” which is equivalent to “ You dares not do it.” 
[See remarks under Error 8.] Daren't and daresn't are not, however, good 
contractions, and should not be used. 

14. Had rather, Had better.—These very common expressions are not 
logically correct. They should be would rather , and might better ; as— 

I would rather stay at home than to go, not I had rather stay at home—etc. 

You might better leave your work for a while, not You had better leave—etc. 

Remark.—In these expression sentences, rather and better are adverbs, hence 
they are not a part of the verb-phrases. ‘ Had stay,’ and ‘ had leave ’ are incor¬ 
rect combinations of the past had with the present stay and leave. [ See Error 
15, next page; also paragraph 380. ] 



PLAIN ENGLISH. 


119 


15. Had have.— Had may follow have ; as— “ I have had the letter copied,” 
“We have had several liberal offers,” etc.,but have should never be used after had 
in a verb-phrase, since the past form of a verb should never precede the present 
or present perfect form. Hence, such expressions as “ If I had have known 
that,” “ Had you have kept your promise,” are incorrect. Omit have. 

16. Had ought.—For the reason given above, had is not only superfluous, 
but incorrect in sense in such sentences as— “ He had ought to go,” “ You had 
ought to have seen it.” Say ‘ He ought to go,’ ‘ You ought to have’— etc. 

17. It’s.— The use of it's for 'its. [ See Error 5, paragraph 239.] 

18. Lie and Lay.— Much of the confusion and misuse of these troublesome 
words may be avoided by remembering that lie means ‘ rest,’ while lay means 
transitive action, that is, action affecting an object. Their principal parts are 

Lie , lay , lain ; active, lying. Lay , laid , laid; active, laying . 

Examples of correct usage : 

Lie—l lie down a while each day. The book lies on the table. They are 
lying on the grass. He lay abed yesterday until nine o clock. It had lain there 
all day. The farm has lain idle a long time. 

Lay. _ I will lay it away for you. Lay the book on the table. She laid her 

gloves on the counter. We have laid their plans well. We were laying the 
walk yesterday. (381.) 

Correct the following : 1. It laid there all day. 2. Lie the ruler on the desk. 

3. You might better lay down and rest awhile. 4. They have lain the boards 
cross-wise. 5. I would rather lie my money by for a “ rainy day.” 6. I had 
been laying on the grass. 7. The hen has lain four eggs. 8. Go and lay down 
on the lounge. 9. They were laying in ambush. 10. Lie the books on the table 
and let them lay there. 

19. Mistaken.—' You are mistaken." Say ‘ You mistake,’ or ‘ in error,’ or 
< incorrect,’ if such is your meaning. Mistaken has different meaning. 

20. Of for have.— Of is sometimes carelessly used in the place of have 
after might, could, would , should , or ought to; as, “You might of gone 
with us.” “ You ought to of told us.” 

21. Raise for rise.— These words are both verbs, but raise is transitive and 
must have an object. Thus, the following sentences are correct: 

Did you raise the money ? The farmer raises corn. They will raise the barn. 
They raised the flag. Each one in favor of this may raise his right hand. 

The following are incorrect: 

Do you think the river will raise? When will the moon raise? The bread 


120 


PLAIN ENGLISH. 


did not raise. The balloon began to raise. The sun raises at five o’clock. The 
river is raising. The price of wheat did not raise after all. 

( a) Raise (always a verb) is incorrectly used as a noun, thus : “ There was 

a slight raise in the land.” “There was a general raise in prices.” The noun 
in these and similar sentences should be rise. 

22. Says for said. —In such expressions as “ Says I, what will you do ? ” 
“ Says he, that’s what I think,” the past form of the verb {said) should be used. 

23. See for saw. —“ I see him there yesterday.” Say ‘ I saw him ’—etc. 

24. Sit and Set. —These two words are often misused, but most of the 
errors may be avoided by remembering that sit means to rest, to be in a position 
of rest, or to be in session, as of a court; while set means action, ‘ to put a 
thing in place,’ ‘ to appoint; * as ‘ to set a day ’ for doing something. The 
principal parts of the two words are as follow: 

Sit, sat, sat; active, sitting-. Set, set, set; active, setting. 

Examples of correct usage: 

Sit. —Will you sit and talk awhile ? Please sit in the easy chair. We sat and 
talked for an hour. They had been sitting but a short time. The hen is sitting. 
The court sits the first Tuesday in October. [See 382. ] 

Set. —You have set the lamp in the wrong place. I had set a time for doing 
the work. They are setting out trees. The sun sets at six o’clock. (382 a.) 

Correct the following: 

1. He set as still as a mouse. 2. We have set until we are tired. 3. He sits 
a bad example. 4. We sat the hen and she is setting. 5. Please set down and 
stay a while. 6. How long have you been setting here ? 7. The sun is sitting. 

8. When will the court set again. 9. The blind man was setting by the wayside. 
10. They are sitting fence posts. 

25. Thinks I, or thinks’s I, for I thought; as, “ Thinks I, I’ll watch and 
see.” “Thinks’s I to myself, I’ll see about that.” Say ‘ I thought ’—etc. 

MISCELLANEOUS EXERCISES TO BE CORRECTED. 

[ Three are correct. ] 

259 . 1. A bushel of apples sell for a dollar. 2. They expected to have 

arrived by boat. 3. The tide is raising. 4. Haint you going with us ? 5. It had 

been lain carefully. 6. We shall have ran the race. 7. No, I aint. 8. To set up 
late is bad for one’s health. 9. The price of wheat did not raise after all. 
10. We had hoped to have heard from him again. 11. It has laid there for some 
time. 12. Taint very far. 13. The fireworks was what they was depending on 
to draw the crowd. 14. I sat my watch by correct time yesterday. 15. I hoped 
to have seen you before you left the city. 16. Set the pail on the bench and 


PLAIN ENGLISH . 


121 


let it set 17. He aint got any money. 18. He would have been pleased to 
have met you. 19. He is as cross as a sitting hen. 20. She desired to have 
come. 21. You have drove too fast. 22. Have you ever spoke to him? 23. Will 
I bring you a pen and some paper? 24. The meaning of your words are doubt¬ 
ful. 25.^ One half the mob was driven back. 26. Do set down and rest yourself. 
27. Don’t set on the damp grass. 28. The governor in company with his staff 
was here. 29. He and Johnny goes swimming every day. 30. The committee 
were unanimous in its action. 31. Where was you when the bell rung? 
32. There’s ten of us going. 33. Yes, says I, we’ll go together. 34. Thinks I to 
myself, I’ll do it. 35. He has broke my pencil. 36. The ship lays in the har- 
bor. 37. He has sprained his ankle, since which time he has not been able 
to work. 38. She has taken a complete course in music, since when she has 
been engaged in teaching. 39. He ought to have known better. 


FACTS ABOUT PREPOSITIONS. 

260 . Fact 1. Regarding this part-of~speech, the important 
fact to be observed is that appropriate prepositions should follow 
certain words, the preposition in any case depending upon the 
meaning to be expressed. [ For list of appropriate prepositions, see 324. ] 

Correct the errors in the following : [ Four are correct. ] 

1. He was accused for stealing the goods, but the jury acquitted him from it. 
2. The two boys were inseparable to each other. 3. The old man leaned against 
his staff and told them his story. 4. He listened at the music of the waves. 
5. John’s mother w^as frightened at the news of his narrow escape. 6. The 
peasants are dying with cholera. 7. Garfield graduated from Hiram Col¬ 
lege. 8. The soldier was killed by a stray bullet. 9. The dying child opened 
her eyes and smiled at me. 10. The opposition against the Chinese in this 
country seems to grow. 11. In accordance to an old custom the president an¬ 
nually issues a proclamation for a national thanksgiving day. 12. Napoleon was 
banished from France and kept a prisoner in the island of St. Helena. 13. Three 
boys agreed with themselves to buy a melon. 14. The grocer was impatient with 
the clerk for his awkwardness. 15. What’s the matter of him ? 16. James reads 

in the Bible for his mother. 17. The resources of the United States are ade¬ 
quate for the support of many millions more people. 18. Were you ever ad¬ 
monished against doing wrong or reminded of your duty in this matter ? 
19. Life in the country is quite different than it is in the city. 20. Persons are 
often frightened by ghosts. 21. They are generally good for flattering who 
are good at nothing else. 22. The poor man was healed from his wound. 
23. He practiced medicine in the south. 24. The immigrants landed in New 
York. 25. The letter was dated from Dublin. 


122 


PLAIN ENGLISH. 


261 . Fact 2. When a participle is used as a noun and is 
preceded by an article, it should be followed by a preposition. 

Examples : By the observing of the rules of health one may avoid sickness. 
A liking for liquor was one of his inheritances. 

Remark,—The opposite of the above is true, that is, if the article is omitted before the parti¬ 
cipial noun, the preposition should be omitted after it. 

Example: Observing the rules of health will enable us to avoid sickness. 

Correct the following: 

° I# The reading good books improves the mind. 2. Learning shorthand re¬ 
quires patience. 3. Appointing of postmasters is a big task for the President. 
4. The educating children is a responsible undertaking. 

MISCELLANEOUS ERRORS. 

262 . i. Repeating a preposition after a verb, the same prep¬ 
osition having been used to introduce a preceding phrase. 

Example : At which hotel did you stay at? Omit the last “ at.” 

2. Using the preposition “of” and a transitive verb before 
the same object. 

Example : “ He did not remember of seeing you.” Omit of. 

3. At, By. —Goods are sold by auction, not at auction. We may buy things 
at an auction, but the selling is by auction, since “ auction ” signifies the man¬ 
ner of selling ; as, “ How did they dispose of their stock? Answer: “ By auc¬ 
tion.” 

4. At fault.—“ He is at fault in the matter.” Say ‘ in fault ’ or ‘ in error.’ At 
fault is a hunting phrase meaning “off the scent.” In fault should be used 
when blame is expressed; in error , when the person is incorrect. 

5. Below, Under. —These words have reference to place. They should 
not be used in the sense of less or fewer when reference is made to an amount 
or number; as, “The total is below one hundred dollars.” “There were un¬ 
der fifty present.” Say ‘ less than one hundred dollars,’ 'fewer than fifty ’— etc. 

6. Differ with, Differ from. —Both these expressions are correct. Differ 
from should be used when a mere cou rteou s difference of opinion is meant. 
Differ witfy is correct when there is a positive disagreement, especially when the 
difference leads to a quarrel or hot dispute. 

7. In for into .—When entrance is denoted, into should be used instead of in. 

Examples: He came into (not in) the room. We got into (notin) the 
carriage. 


PLAIN ENGLISH. 


123 


Change in to into in the following sentences and notice the change in mean¬ 
ing: 

He jumped in the river. He walked in the water. The guide led the way in 
the cave. They were driven in the pasture. The captain urged his horse in the 
thickest of the fight. The people ran in the street. The team ran in the field. 

8. Like for as. —Both these words express similarity, but like (prep.) 
compares things, expressing similarity of quality or appearance; whiles (conj.) 
compares actions. 

Examples : He holds the pen as you do but his writing does not look like 
yours. She does not look like you but she talks just as you do. I feel as if I 
ought to go. Do not say, ‘ I feel like I ought to go.’' 

9. On, Upon.—In many connections these words are interchangeable; in 
others, however, there is a positive difference between their meanings. The 
distinction is as follows: On means merely over, or resting on a thing; upon 
implies or conveys the idea of motion. 

Example : “The boy climbed upon the wagon.” “ He rode on the wagon.” 

In the following sentences, change on to upon , or upon to on , and note the 
change in meaning: 

The dog ran upon the bridge. The man fell on the sidewalk. The guns 
were loaded upon the wagon. The children ran on the ice. 

10. Onto for on or upon is a gross error; as, for example, “The cat jumped 
onto the table.” This is an absurd statement, for once on the table the cat 
could not jump to it. The cat jumps upon the table, not on the table. Jumping 
on the table is like walking on the floor, rolling on the ground, running on the 
ice, and so forth. 

11. Over, Above.— Dike below and under (Error 4, above), these words 
have reference to place. They are often incorrectly used for more than ; as— 
“ He lives above a mile from here.” Say ‘ more than —etc. 

12. Per —Per is a Latin preposition and should not be used before English 
nouns denoting time, number, or amount. Thus, we say, ‘ per diem’ (day), 
< per annum’ (year), ‘ per capita’ (head) ; but we should not say ‘per day,’ 
‘per year,’ ‘per head,’ ‘per yard,’ ‘per foot,’ and so fofth. Instead, say ‘so 
much a head,’ ‘ a yard,’ ‘ a year,’ and so forth. [ See 349.] 

13. Without for unless — Without is a preposition and should never be used as 
a conjunction to introduce a clause ; as, “ No one need apply without he comes 
recommended.” “ They would not come without we made them a definite offer.” 
Say 'unless he comes,’ ‘ unless we made ’—etc. Except is also sometimes mis¬ 
used for unless in such sentences. 


124 


PLAIN ENGLISH. 


MISCELLANEOUS EXERCISES TO BE CORRECTED. 

[ Two are correct. ] 

263 . i. This one is quite different to that. 2. His majority is under five 
hundred. 3. He put his hand in his pocket. 4. Do you approve of such con¬ 
duct? 5. By what route will you go by? 6. The house stood over fifty feet 
from the street. 7. Will you accept of this token of respect ? 8. In compliance 
to your request, we mail you our price-list. 9. I threw it into the fire. 10. The 
number present was below fifty. 11. I do not remember of saying it, but I will 
try to recollect of it. 12. At what hotel did you stop at? 13. Working in an 
office is different than working on a farm. 14. He came in the city. 15. She is 
over eighty years old. 16. • She was admitted in the class. 17. He jumped onto 
the platform just as the train started. 18. With which pen did you write with ? 
19. He owns above two hundred acres of land. 20. We rushed in the depot. 
21. To what resort will you go to this summer? 22. The child fell in the cistern. 
23. Of whom does he remind you of?. 24. We got in the car. 


CONJUNCTIONS. 

264. Concerning this part-of-speech, the only fact of a general 
nature is that certain co-ordinate conjunctions correspond with 
other words (adjectives and adverbs) after which they are prop¬ 
erly used. These words are called “correlatives.” [ See paragraph 114.] 
The following correlatives are the only ones that require special 
attention: 

(a) As should follow as (adv.) when equality is expressed, or in asking a 
question as to whether there is equality. 

Examples : He can write as well as anyone I know. Is he as well as usual ? 

(b) As follows SO (adv.) when inequality is asserted, or when an infinitive 
follows as ; thus— 

He is not so well as usual. Will you be so kind as to answer my question ? 

(c) Nor is the proper correlative of neither (adj. or adv.), and also of the 
negatives not and never when they apply to what follows as well as to what pre¬ 
cedes the correlative. 

Examples : He could neither read nor write. He will not work nor permit 
others to do so. The negative not is sometimes implied in nothing (‘nothing’ 
or ‘ not any thing ’), which is then followed by nor; as, “ It was nothing more 
nor less than an attempt to coerce.” 

( d) Or is the correlative of either (adj. or adv.) [See paragraph 114.] 


PLAIN ENGLISH. 


125 


( e ) Than is the proper conjunction after else, other, otherwise, or 
any comparative word except preferable. 

Examples : It was nothing else than a boycott. This is none other than the 
house of God. It could hardly be otherwise than pleasant. 

Correct the following : [Two are correct.] 

1. Neither John or his brother could go. 2. He will not study or obey. 3. One 
should not eat or drink while talking. 4. We have neither time or money ta 
spare. 5. She will never sing or play again. 6. He is not as rich as he makes 
believe. 7. I am as tall as he but not as heavy. 8. Who is so competent as he ? 

9. There are few so well educated as he is. 10. This house is more expensive 
but not as attractive as the other one. 11. We have no other hope but this. 

12. I could not do otherwise than speak well of him. 13. I think this is more 
preferable than that. 

MISCELLANEOUS ERRORS. 

265 . 1. Using and in the place of to before an infinitive; as, “Please 
come and see us soon.” “ I will try and go.” Say ‘ Please come to see us soon.* 

‘I will try to go.’ 

2. Using as or if for that or whether to introduce objective clauses; as, 

“ Do you know if he will come ? ” Say ‘ whether he will come.’ “ I do not see 
as he has changed much.” Say ‘ that he has changed much.’ 

3. Using but that, but what, or lest for that , after verbs expressing 
doubt, fear, or denial; as, “I do not doubt but that it is true.” Omit but. “I 
never doubted but what he was innocent.” Use that instead of but what. “I 
fear lest they will not come.” Say ‘ that they will not come.’ 

But is sometimes incorrectly.used for if; as, “ I should not wonder but that 
is true.” Say ‘ if that is true.’ 

4. Directly. —This adverb should not be used as a conjunction to take the 
place of when or as soon as, thus: “ Directly we came he went.” “ Directly we _ p 
got aboard, the boat started.” Say ‘ when,’ or ‘ as soon as.’ This awkward 

use of directly is a Briticism. Avoid it. 

5. How or how as for that; as, “ He said how he would come if he could.” 

“ I thought as how you might be willing to extend the time.” Say ‘that he 
would come ; ’ ‘ that you might be willing’—etc. 

MISCELLANEOUS EXERCISES TO BE CORRECTED. 

[ Two are correct. ] 

266 . 1. Do you know if they still sell those goods ? 2. He would like to 

know if you will go with them. 3. He asked me if I would call and see you. 

4. Do you know if it will cost as much as the other? 5. The judge asked the 


126 


PLAIN ENGLISH . 


prisoner if he was guilty or not guilty. 6. I do not know as that will help mat¬ 
ters any. 7. We cannot see as that alters the case. 8. We cannot say as he is 
any worse than he was. 9. We did not doubt but what they will Succeed. 
10. We fear lest she will not get well. 11. We do not deny but that you have 
grounds for suspicion. 12. He does not doubt but what you did your best. 
13. I should not be surprised if that was the case. 14. We will try and do the 
work for you. 15. Directly I got home I wrote to him. 16. He will not go 
without you do. 16. I beg leave to differ from you on that point. 

GENERAL EXERCISES TO BE CORRECTED. 

[ Three are correct. ] 

267 * 1. The measure failed in consequence of the President vetoing it. 

2. This is Campbell’s, the poet’s, production. 3. Mans happiness or misery are 
in a great measure put in his own hands. 4. The prince as well as the people 
were to blame. 5. The fleet were seen sailing up the bay. 6. The multitude 
eagerly pursues pleasure as its chief good. 7. Their love, their hatred, and 
their envy has now perished. 8. The committee was divided in its sentiments. 
9. That noble general who had gained so many victories, he died at last in 
prison. 10. They supposed it was me ; but you kne-wUhat it was him. 11. Who 
did they send on that mission ? 12. Learn to always be content with what you 

have. 13. It done no harm, for I had wrote my letter before he come. 14. Be¬ 
tween you and I, I am afraid he will never pay it. 15. We cannot find none in 
the market. 16. The sun had already arose when we resumed our journey. 
17. He writes as the best authors would have wrote had they writ on the same 
subject. 18. It is I which begs you to desist. 19. He behaved bad and now he 
feels badly about it. 20. I saw one who I took to be she. [See 221 b. ] 21. He 

can sing better than me. 22. Such was the career of Burns, he who delighted a 
nation with his songs. 23. The Chinese wall is thirty foot high. 24. I think 
you had better have your horse shod. 25. I intended to have called last week 
but could not. 26. The fields look freshly and gayly since the rain. 27. He is 
a better painter than poet. 28. The side A , together with the sides B and C, 
compose the triangle. 29. Five and eight makes thirteen ; five from eight leaves 
three. 30. He would not believe that honesty was the best policy. 31. Such a 
bad temper is a great detriment to a person. 32. I guarantee to sell a better 
hat than any dealer in this city for less money. 33. This is the most perfect 
piece of work I ever seen. 34. Tom is more active but not so studious as his 
brother. 35. I doubt if that statement can be depended upon. 36. Every one 
must take care of themselves. 37. This is quite different than that. 38. I differ 
with you in that matter. 39. Your choice of any chair in this window for $3.75. 
40. I found him better than I expected to. 41. His report of the affair was quite 
different to that. 42. Neither despise the poor or envy the rich. 43. I had 
rather die of the sword than with cholera. 44. He accused them for betraying 
their trust. 45. I expected my father and brother to have come. 


PLAIN ENGLISH. 


127 


SUPERFLUOUS WORDS. 

268 . i. At— Superfluous in “ Where is he at ? ” “ Where do they live at ? ” 

2. After. —Superfluous before having ; as, “ After having seen him, we re¬ 
turned.” “ After having heard that, he was unwilling to go.” Say ‘Having 
seen,’ ‘ Having heard,’ etc. 

3. Any. —Superfluous in such expressions as, “I am not hurt any." “He 
is not any afraid.” “ She cannot see any." 

4. At all. —“ We are not at all surprised at the outcome.” “ I will have 
nothing to do with it at all." In these sentences, “ at all ” is superfluous, though 
it has the sanction of good usage. 

5. Anxiety of mind. —“ Anxiety of mind is undermining his health.” Since 
anxiety has reference to a state of the mind, the words “of mind” in this sen¬ 
tence are superfluous. For the same reason, these words are superfluous in 
“ equanimity of mind,” sine e equanimity means ‘balance of mind.’ 

6. Both alike. —“ They are both alike in that respect.” Omit “both.” (383.) 

7. Back. —Superfluous in such expressions as, “ They retreated back." 
“ They returned back." 

8. Bouts, or Abouts. —“ Where bouts [ or whereabouts ] do you now live ? ” 
Say ‘ Where do you live ? ’ 

9. Clear. —Superfluous in “ He went clear to New York,” “ I read the book 
clear through,” and similar expressions. 

10. Down. —Superfluous in “It dropped down." “He fell down." 

11. Equally as well as. —The correlatives, as — as, indicate equality, there¬ 
fore equally, in such expressions as, “This is equally as good as that,” “This 
will do equally as well as that,” is superfluous. 

12. Full. —This word is superfluous after fill; as, “ It was filled full of things.” 
“ They filled the cistern full of water.” Say ‘ filled with things,’ etc. 

13. For. —“ He is worth more than you think for." Drop the “ for.” 

14. From. —Superfluous before hence , thence, and whence ; as, “ From whence 
does it come.” “ We shall go from hence as soon as possible.” We would con¬ 
sider it absurd to ask, “ To whither does it go ? ” yet that would be no worse 
than, “ From whence does it come ? ” 

15. Forward. —Superfluous in “ They advanced forward ,” since the idea of 
“ forward ” is embodied in advance. This is like saying, “ They retreated back.” 

16. Go and fetch. —The first two words are superfluous. [See 271 16 .] 


128 


PLAIN ENGLISH. 


17. Got. —Superfluous after have , has , and had. [See paragraph 273 s .] 

18. In. —Superfluous in the expression “ In so far as,” as “ In so far as he is 
responsible he will make it right,” “/« so far as we are concerned,”—etc. 

19. Of. —Superfluous after admit , accept , recollect , and remember ; as, “ The 
case was too plain to admit of doubt.” [See 262 2 .] 

20. On. —Superfluous in “ continue on.” Continue includes the idea of on. 

21. Pocket handkerchief. —The word pocket is superfluous, just as hand 
is in neck-handkerchief. The latter should be neck-kerchief. 

22. Right. —Superfluous in “ Right there it is,” “ Please attend to it right 
now,” and similar expressions. 

23. Same. —Superfluous in “ He is the same man I saw yesterday,” “ That 
is the same horse I used to own,” and similar sentences. 

24. Together, after talk , converse , correspond , connect , unite , and similar 
words, together is superfluous; as, “ We talked together over the matter.” 

25. Whole. —Superfluous after throughout; as, “Throughout the whole 
world there is great interest in the matter.” “ Throughout his whole life he was 
consistent in that respect.” 

26. Widow woman. — Widow means a woman who has lost her husband 
and has not married again. This meaning of the word has remained unchanged 
for thousands of years and it is understood by people in general as referring 
to a woman. Hence, the word woman after it is superfluous. (384.) 


POPULAR ABSURDITIES. 

269 . I. After night.—We hear persons talk of doing work “ after night.” 
After night means sometime the next day. 

2. A. M., in the morning. —A. M. is an abbreviation of ante meridian , which 
means ‘before noon ’ or ‘ in the morning.’ Hence, it is an absurd superfluity to 
say, “ The train departs at 7 A. M. in the morning.” Say ‘at 7 o’clock in the 
morning,’ or ‘ at 7 A. M.’ P. M. ( postmeridian —‘ afternoon ’) and evening are 
also incorrectly used together; as, “ He came at 6 P. M. this evening.” 

3. Bad orthography.Her orthography is very bad.” Orthography 
means ‘ correct spelling ; ’ therefore, “ bad orthography ” is bad correct 
spelling / 

4. Been.—“Has the postman been yet?” Such questions are absurd, for 
the reason that been (the perfect participle of be) means ‘existed.’ Of course 
the postman has been ever since he was born. What is meant is “ Has the post¬ 
man been here?” “ Had the painters been there?” and so forth. 


PLAIN ENGLISH. 


129 


5. Between each.— “ Between each of the houses was a row of shade- 
trees.” Each means one. The absurdity is easily seen. 

6. Collect a bill.— How can one thing be collected? The money or the 
amount due on a bill may be collected, but not the bill. 

7 - Considerable of a. —The use of the phrase considerable of a to limit 
a noun is absurd ; as, “ They paid considerable of a sum for it.” “ We had con¬ 
siderable of a shower.” Say “a considerable sum,” “ a considerable shower.” 

8. Dead run.— “ He started on a dead run.” “ They came around the corner 
on a dead run.” How does a dead run differ from a live run ? The fact is that 
what is so often called a “ dead run ” is far from being dead. 

9. Empties.— Our geographies have long been telling us that “ the Missis¬ 
sippi empties into the Gulf of Mexico; ” that “ the Amazon empties into the 
Atlantic,” and that the Niagara empties into Lake Ontario.” Nevertheless the 
“father of waters ” has proved (to the sorrow of many) in recent years that it 
isn’t empty; while the waters of the mighty Amazon continue to flow into the 
ocean, and the never-ceasing torrents of far-famed Niagara are pouring into the 
“Lake of the Thousand Isles.” 

10. Every once in a little while. —This is an absurd and meaningless 
phrase, made so by the misplacing of the word every. It should be “ Once in 
every little while,” though the latter is not free from criticism. Better simply, 
“ Once in a little while.” 

11. Good music in attendance. —A common but absurd statement. What 
is meant is that ‘good music will be furnished,’ or ‘ provided.’ 

12. Head over heels. —“He is always head over heels in work.” The 
proper position for a person at work is with his head over his heels. 

13. “ How do you do ? ”—This question (too often a thoughtless saluta¬ 
tion ) is not asked for the purpose of finding out how the person addressed does 
something, as the words really imply (‘ you do do how ’), but how he is, that is, in 
what condition as regards health, etc. The question should be “ How are you ? ” 

14. I dare say.— “ I dare say you had a pleasant time.” It does not require; 
much courage to dare to say such things. 

15. I never remember. —“ I never remember such a mild winter as this.” 
Similar to this, but much more common, are the expressions “ I don’t think,” 
“ I don’t guess,” etc., which mean just the opposite of what those who use them 
intend to say. 

16. In our midst. —The common expression “ in our midst ” is an absurd 
one, for the reason that midst means nearly, if not exactly, the same as 
middle. “We have in our midst,” etc., should be, “We have among us,” or 
“ with us,” etc. [ See John xix: 18.] 


130 


PLAIN ENGLISH. 


17. Innumerable number. —The absurdity of such an expression is so 
apparent that it does not need comment. 

18. I thought to myself. —Since a man must think to himself if he thinks 
at all, the “ to myself ” is absurdly superfluous. 

19. It should seem. — Strictly, according to the words, this expression 
means “ it ought to seem but does not; ” but this is not what those who use 
it mean. It is a modest but illogical way of saying simply it seems. (385.) 

20. Is being done, Is being built, etc. — Is means ‘ exists; ’ being 
means ‘existing;’ done means ‘finished.’ Hence, is being done is, literally 
taken, ‘ exists existing finished.’ And so, is being built means ‘ exists exist¬ 
ing built.’ Considering the words in the light of their essential—their un¬ 
changeable meaning, these phrases are about as absurd as any that could be 
imagined; but they are generally understood as meaning that the work spoken 
of is not finished, but progressing. In the words of Mr. Ramsey, “Anyone who 
will invent a better phrase will deserve public gratitude.” (386.) 

21. No more than he can help. —“He does no more than he can help,” 
or “ He does no more than he can keep from doing.” Say ‘ He does 110 more 
than he is obliged to do,’ or ‘compelled to do.’ 

22. Of all others. —“ Of all others, that man ought to be the last to com¬ 
plain,” “This habit is, of all others, the hardest to break up.” How can a thing 
be one of all others ? 

23. On every hand. —Say ‘ on each hand,’ ‘ both hands,’ or ‘ on every side.’ 

24. On the street. —This expression is very commonly misused for in the 
street ) the latter being the correct, the logical phrase ; thus, Crowds are in the 
street, not on the street. An accident occurs in (not on ) the street. (387.) 

25. Powerful weak. —“ He was powerful weak after his long sickness.” 
The man of whom this was said must have been a “confirmed invalid.” (272 3 .) 

26. Quite a few, Quite a little.— Whether used in its primary sense of 
‘completely,’ ‘entirely, ‘ totally,’ etc., or in its American sense of ‘to a con¬ 
siderable extent or degree,’ the word quite before a few , a little , and so 
forth, is absurd. “ We have quite a few of them.” “ It is quite a little distance 
from here.” 

27. Seldom or ever, (or never.)— This meaningless phrase should be 
“ seldom if ever; ” as, “ He seldom, if ever, fails to be on time.” 

28. Table board. —There are few words in our language so absolutely 
synonymous as board and table , the one being the English, the other the Ro¬ 
mance name for the same thing; so that table board is simply table-table or 


PLAIN ENGLISH . 


131 


hoard-board. If not incorrect, it is a very droll combination of words, for 
“ board ” thus means that which is placed upon a board or table. Board is one 
thing, lodging another; so that we see signs “board and lodging.”— Every- 
Day English. 

29. The exception proves the rule. —How can an exception prove a 
rule ? Probably not one in a thousand of those who use this expression un¬ 
derstands its meaning, or stops to think whether it really means anything. The 
exception proves nothing, unless it may be said to prove itself. (388.) 

30. Too much. —“It is not best to eat too much before going to bed.” Of 
course it is not best to eat “ too much ” at any time. “ Too much dissipation, 
it is said, was the cause of his death.” Any dissipation is “ too much.” 


“AWFUL” WORDS. 

270. 1 . Dreadful .—To speak of having a “ dreadful (or dreadfully) nice 

time,” is on a level with saying “ an awful nice day.” [See Awful, p. 133.] 

2. Grand. —This word is absurdly used in such expressions as, “ He made 
a grand mistake.” “ It was a grand failure.” 

3. Horrid, Horrible. —These two words seem to be favorites with those who 
are predisposed to make “ mountains out of mole hills ” in their use of English; 
and so we hear them talk about “horrid { or horrible) weather;” “a horrible 
toothache,” and so forth. [ See 389. ] 

4. Immense. —This word seems to be a favorite extravagance with Ameri¬ 
cans. It is not uncommon to see on signs, or to read in advertisements announc¬ 
ing “ special sales,” such statements as “ Immense reductions in shoes.” “ Im¬ 
mense discounts on all our goods.” Persons who use immense in this way 
•certainly do not understand its meaning. They might as well say, “ prodigious 
reductions; ” “ unlimited discounts.” 

5. Mighty. —“lam mighty glad (> to see you.” Any one who will stop to 
consider the meaning of mighty will see the absurdity of such an expression. 

6. Splendid. —This word means ‘ possessing or displaying splendor,’ ‘ shin¬ 
ing,’ ‘ being brilliant,’ or ‘ very bright.’ Hence, it is proper to speak of a 
* splendid sunset,’ a ‘ splendid diamond,’ a ‘ splendid palace,’ but it is gross ex¬ 
travagance to speak of a ‘ splendid cup of coffee,’ a ‘ splendid sermon,’ a ‘ splen¬ 
did man,’ or to say of a woman that ‘ she sang splendidly,’ or that anything is 
done ‘ splendidly.’ Many persons go to the extent of speaking of such things 
as being “perfectly splendid.” 

7. Terrible. —“ I am in a terrible hurry.” If you are in the habit of using 
the word “terrible ” in this way, look up its meaning in a good dictionary, and 
then rid yourself of the habit. Avoid all such expressions. 


132 


PLAIN ENGLISH. 


MISUSED WORDS. 

271 . i. Address, Direct.— Address is commonly misused for direct. A 
letter is addressed, at the beginning, to the one who is to read it, but directed 
(outside) to the one who is to receive it. Hence, packages are always directed , 
not addressed. [ See paragraph 390.] 

, 2. Aggravate for irritate. — Aggravate means ‘to add to,’ ‘to make 

heavy, or heavier.’ It should not be used for irritate , which means ‘ to anger/ 
‘vex,’ ‘provoke,’ ‘exasperate,’ etc. Examples: Injury is aggravated Ity the 
addition of insult. He irritates me by his impudence. 

3. Among, Between. — Between ordinarily applies to two; among to a 
greater number; as, “ The farmer divided his property between two sons ; his 
money, among three daughters.” [See Divide , 326.] 

/ ' 4. Answer, Reply. —We answer questions and re ply to c harges or assertions. 
In.answering letters for the purpose of giving information, do not say, “In reply 
v to your letter,” etc. 

5. Apt, Liable, Likely. — Apt means ‘ quick,’ ‘ inclined,’ or ‘ disposed to do ; r 
hence applicable to persons only; as, “A pupil apt to learn.” “Men are apt ta 
slander others.” 

Liable means ‘ responsible,’ ‘ exposed to,’ or ‘ in danger of.’ It is applicable 
to both persons and things; as, “They are liable for the cost of the goods.” 
“Tall trees are liable to be struck by lightning.” “ He is liable to get hurt.” 

Likely means having ‘ probability,’ ‘ givingreason to expect; ’ as, “ He is likely 
to come again.” “ It is not likely to occur soon.” “ I am not likely to go.” 

These three words are very commonly misused. The errors occur chiefly 
in the use of apt for liable or likely. Liable is also misused for likely, but 
likely is seldom misused in the place of either of the others. 

6. At length, At last. —When reference is made to time, at last should be 
used; as, “At last we came to our journey’s end.” At length means ‘ in full ’ 
or ‘to a considerable extent; ’ as, “ He wrote to me at length about the affair.” 

7. Avocation for vocation. —A man’s vocation is his business or calling; 
that in which he is regularly engaged. His avocations are the things which call 
him away from his regular work: vocare, to call; a-vocare , to call away. Thus 
a lawyer’s vocation, properly speaking, is the practice of law. When he leaves 
his business and goes a-fishing, the latter is, for the time, his avocation. 

8. A while and Awhile. — While was originally regarded as a noun preceded 
by the article a. When used to limit a verb, the two are now written together 
and regarded as a pure adverb. But when they follow a preposition they are 
written separately, while then being a noun. Examples: This will do for a 
while. He will go in a little while. 


PLAIN ENGLISH. 


133 


9- Awful for very or exceedingly .—Awful means ‘ frightful,’ and is appli¬ 
cable to that which strikes with awe or fills with reverence mingled with fear 
or admiration. Neither it nor the adverb awfully should be applied to common 
or ordinary happenings. Thus we speak of an awful explosion, an awful ship¬ 
wreck, or an awful disaster of any kind; but we should not say ‘an awful boy,’ 
‘ an awful mistake,’ ‘ an awful nice time,’ ‘ an awfully nice fellow,’ and so forth. 

10. Balance for remainder or rest. — Balance as a noun means that which 
makes equal, hence it is correct to speak of the balance of a man’s account, 
meaning the amount required to make the two sides of his account equal. [ See 
Webster. ] Balance is incorrectly used for remainder or rest in such expres¬ 
sions as ‘the balance of the day; ’ f the balance of the crowd ; ’ ‘the balance of 
the crop ; ’ ‘ the balance of the m^n’s money.’ 

11. Beat.— This word is commonly misused for defeat; as, “He beat the 
other fellow on election day.” “ The man they proposed for candidate was beaten 
in the primaries.” Beat is also misused for excelled or surpassed in such state¬ 
ments as, “ She beat all her classmates in mathematics.” “ He beat all the 
others in logical argument.” 

12. Beside, Besides. — Beside means place; as, “He stood beside me.” 
Besides means ‘ in addition to; ’ as, “ There were two others there besides him.” 

13. Both is misused for each; as, “An ancient oak stood on both sides of 
the road.” [See Either. ] 


14. Bound. —The use of this word as an adjective in the sense of sure , cer¬ 
tain, or determined, is incorrect; as, “He is bound (sure, certain,) to be 
defeated.” “ I am bound Tdetermined) to go.” 

15. Bountiful. —This word applies to persons, not to things. Thus, we may 
say of one who bestows great benefits or gives large gifts that ‘ he is a bountiful 
person,’ and so one stanza of a well-known Sunday School song begins : “ Up 
to the bountiful Giver of life,” etc. We should not pervert this word and make 
it do duty for plentiful, large , abundant , etc., in such expressions as ‘ a bounti¬ 
ful dinner,’ ‘ a bountiful crop,’ ‘ a bountiful supply.’ 

16. Bring, Fetch. — Bring implies motion in one direction ; fetch indicates 
motion in two directions. Thus, the farmer calls to his son and says, “ Bring 
me the rake you are using.” If he sends the boy for the rake he says, “ Go and 
bring me the rake.” In the latter case he might say “Fetch me the rake,” since 
fetch implies both going and bringing. Hence it is superfluous to say “ Go and 
fetch me the rake.” 


. 




17. Can, May. —May asks or grants permission ; can has reference to ability. 
The common error is not in using may for can, but in using can to ask or 
grant permission where may should be used; as, “ Can I borrow your book ?” 
“ Can I have the pleasure of your company? ” 


134 


PLAIN ENGLISH. 


'" 272 . i. Cannot and Cannot.— When absolute inability (from any 
cause) is asserted, cannot should be used. When mere unwillingness is meant 
(the ability to do not being denied), use the two words can not. Examples : I 
cannot hear as well as I did then. We can not sell youTthese goods at the 
4 "rice we did last year. I can not‘tell a lie. 



2. Calculate for intend or expect.—Calculate means to compute or reck¬ 
on ; as, to calculate the cost of a farm at so much per acre ; or, to calculate the 
distance in miles between two places, the difference of longitude or latitude be¬ 
ing given. The word is incorrectly used in such sentences as the following : 
“ They calculate to go to the World’s Fair.” “ He calculates to get married.” 
Say ‘ intend ’ or ‘ expect.’ Calculated is also commonly used to take the place 
of likely or liable ; as, “ Such mistakes are calculated to do much harm.” “ The 
storm is calculated to interfere with travel and traffic.” We may, however, say, 

‘ That man’s meanness is calculated to do much harm,’ or that ‘ the strike was 
calculated to interfere with travel and traffic ; ’ for the man may have planned, 
reckoned ,—calculated upon doing harm; and the strikers doubtless planned 
the strike and reckoned (‘calculated’) upon its having just such an effect. 

Confirmed for chronic or hopeless.—Confirm means ‘ to make firm,’ ‘to 
give strength to,’ but we sometimes hear of a confirmed invalid. Can weakness 
be strong? If not, how can a man be a confirmed (‘ strengthened ’) invalid? 

4. Consequence.—As it is used in the familiar phrase, “ it is of no conse¬ 
quence,”^this word might be classed with “popular absurdities.” Consequence 
means ‘ that which follows—a result; hence, “ it is of no consequence” is equiv¬ 
alent to ‘ it is of no result .’ What those who use this expression mean is that the 
matter is of no importance. 

5. Consider.— Consider means ‘ to ponder,’ ‘ to think over,’ ‘ to weigh care¬ 
fully, with a view to forming an opinion or giving an answer.’ It is incorrectly 
used for think or regard in such sentences as, “ I consider him an honest man.” 
“ We do not consider that it is our place to do this.” 

6. Couple of for two .—The words couple of are incorrectly used for two in 
such expressions as ‘ a couple of men,’ ‘ a couple of letters,’ ‘ a couple of 
stamps.’ Two things that are coupled , or bound together by some ‘copula,’ are 
a couple ; as, ‘ a couple or yoke of oxen,’ ‘ a couple of cars ’ (two cars coupled 
together); and so a man and his wife are a couple united by the marriage 
bond. (391.) 

7. Dangerous is incorrectly used for the phrase in danger in the following 

sentence: “ His death was a surprise to all, for he was not thought to be 

dangerous.” 

8. Depot for station.—Station means a stopping or a standing place ; depot 
means a place for storing materials; hence, instead of “ railroad depot,” we 
should say “ railroad station,” or, better still, “ railway station.” (392.) 



PLAIN ENGLISH. 


135 


9. Drive for ride. —The misuse of drive for ride is very common in this 
country, as well as in England, where it originated. Even well educated persons 
will say, “ Let us take a drive in the surrey,” or, “ We went to drive in the 
country,” when they mean “ ride.” The coachman or driver drives. 


10. Every thing and Everything.— Every thing means each thing ; every¬ 
thing means all taken together; as, “He gave the highest market price for 
every thing he bought.” “They sold everything they had for a few dollars.” I 

11. Every in such sentences as, “ We have every confidence in the man^ 
is misused for entire, or perfect. 




Ys/S 


12. Either, Neither, and Both. —Each of these words applies to but two 
objects, yet they are commonly misused by being applied to three or a greater 
number; as, “ Either {ox neither) of the four boys could have done the work 
alone.” E ithe rj^x&% ans~one or the .other (of two); both means one and the 
other. Neither means ‘ not either ’—not one noxffie other , of two. (393.) 

13. Etc., &c.— According to the Century Dictionary, etc. and &c. are both 
abbreviations of the Latin phrase etcetera , meaning ‘ and the rest.’ The sign &c. 
is commonly read “and so forth ”; it should, therefore, be used only when the 
meaning is “ and others like them.” Etc. should always be read “ et-set'e-ra,” 
and used when the meaning is “and the rest” or “and other things not men¬ 
tioned.” The use of “etc., etc., ” or “ &c., &c., &c.,” is absurd. 

14. Evidence, Testimony.— Concerning the distinction between these 

words, Mathews says : “ Evidence is a word much abused by learned judges and \ 

attorneys,—being continually used for testimony. Evidence relates to the con- 
victive view of any one’s mind; testimony , to the knowledge of another con¬ 
cerning some fact. The evidence in a case is often the reverse of the testimony.” 

15. Example, Problem. —An example is that which is to be followed, 
or imitated as a model, — that which serves to illustrate. A problem is a 
question proposed for solution, that which is to be worked out according to 
some rule. An example is a problem that has been solved and the solution 
written out to illustrate or make the rule clear. 


16. Execute. —The common tendency in the use of words is to make them 
general in meaning instead of specific—making them mean so much that they 
mean nothing ; but as great an error is made when a general term is used with 
a specific meaning. The word execute in one of its common (though incor¬ 
rect) uses is an illustration of this. Its true meaning is ‘ to follow to the end,’ 
‘ to carry into complete effect,’ ‘to finish;’ as to execute an order, to execute 
the laws, to execute a piece of work. Hence, to speak of executing a man is an 
absurd use of the word. Besides, to say that a man “ was execulecP’ is indefinite, 
though it is generally understood that he was put to death by hanging. If a 
man is to be hanged, or shot, or killed by electricity, say so. It may not sound 
so elegant as “ executed,” but the meaning will be definite. 




136 


PLAIN ENGLISH. 


273 . i. Expect for suppose , think , believe. — Expect means ‘to wait,’ ‘to 
look for,’ ‘ look forward to,’ and, hence, can be applied only to things in the 
future, to that which is yet to happen ; as, “ I expect to get a letter tomorrow.” 
“ They will expect us to come.” It is incorrectly used in such expressions as, 
“ I expect you had a pleasant time.” “ I expect she is sick.” 

2. Farther, Further.—Comparatively few people observe the distinction 
between these words. Farther has reference to distance or extent; as, “ He 
could go no farther.” “ He went farther into the matter than I should have 
gone.” Further means‘more;’ as, “ I have nothing further to say about it.” 

3. Fix for repair and draw. —The word fix , which primarily meant ‘ to 
make firm, ‘ to set,’ ‘ to establish,’ has been degraded or weakened by being 
made to do the work of mend , repair , and even of draw ; as, “ The lawyer will 
fix up the papers.” “They fixed the broken machinery.” “What will you 
charge for fixing my shoes ?” 

4. Foot for pay. —To foot a bill or account is to add or to sum up the 
columns of figures, to place the amount at the foot or bottom. Hence, when a 
man says he will ‘ foot t.he bill,’ he literally promises nothing more than that he 
will add the figures and ascertain the amount of the bill. If people had to do 
nothing more than “ foot ” their bills it would be an easy way of paying for 
goods. The fact is that the merchant or book-keeper will foot our bills and ex¬ 
pect us to pay them. 

5- Get—The primary and essential meaning of this word is ‘ to obtain 
by effort,’ i. e ., to come into possession of a thing by some act or effort on 
the part of the possessor. Thus a man may get a new hat, get a wife, get a 
home, and he may, by carelessness, get a cold, and in speaking of these things 
afterward he may say he got such and such a thing. Get has also a variety 
of uses in idiomatic expressions where it signifies ‘ to become,’ ‘ to leave,’ ‘ to 
reach,’ etc.; as, to get tired, get lost, get away, get to bed, get to sleep. 

The word should not be used to denote possession or the getting of that 
which a person makes no effort to obtain; as, to say of a man that he ‘got a 
present,’ ‘ got a letter,’ ‘ got left,’ ‘ got arrested,’ or that he * got killed.’ What is 
meant, and what we should say in such cases, is that the person received a letter 
or present, that he was arrested, was left, was killed, and so forth. Another and 
more common error is the use of got after have to denote mere possession. Thus, 
“ I have got a watch,” “ He has got fever,” “ They had got my telegram.” 

6. Grow. Next to get , this is probably our most variously used verb. 
Grow means to ‘ increase,’ ‘ enlarge,’ ‘ develop.’ It is allowable in such idiomatic 
expressions as ‘ grow bright,’ ‘ grow dark,’ ‘ grow weary,’ where it is used in the 
sense of become; but its use in such sentences as, “ His desire for it grew less 
and less,” My fortune grows smaller,” “The days are growing shorter,” is illog¬ 
ical, not to say absurd. 


PLAIN ENGLISH. 


137 


7* Guess for think , believe , suppose. —Americans are the greatest “ guessers ” 
in the world. They “guess” this, “guess” that, and “guess” the other thing, 
when they really do not guess , but think , suppose , or believe. 

8. Hardly for scarcely. — Hardly has reference to degree, s carce ly to quan^ ^ 
tity; as, “They have scarcely enough for their own use.” “ He is hardly able 
to walk yet.” The words are incorrectly used in the following: “ He is scarcely 
•old enough to understand it.” “ There was hardly anything said.” 

9 * Healthy, Healthful, Wholesome.— We may speak of a healthy or 
unhealthy person or animal and of a healthful climate. Wholesome (or un¬ 
wholesome) is applicable to food, water, air, etc. 

10. Heap for very or a great deal.—“ He thinks a heap of her.” “ He can 
do a heap of work in a day.” We may have a heap (pile) of logs, a heap of 
dirt, or a heap of stones; but not ‘ a heap of work ’ or ‘ a heap of love.’ 

11. Help is commonly misused for avoid or keep from; as, “ I could not 
help laughing at him.” “ He could not help doing that.” 

12. Ill for sick.—III is an adverb and should not be used as an adjective ; as, 

“ I am ill.” “ She was quite ill.” Use “ sick ” in all such cases. (394.) 

13. Lady for wife. —The word lady , as a substitute for wife , is a snobbish 
vulgarism, which may have originated with a clerk in a hotel. Mr. and Mrs. 
Somebody arrived at the hotel, and the clerk officiously recorded their names,— 

“ Mr. Somebody and Lady.”— Gould's “ Good English." 

14. Learn, Teach. — Learn means to acquire (get) knowledge; teach means 
to impart knowledge. Hence it is incorrect to say, “ He learned me to write.” 

“ I will learn you better manners.” 

15. Less, Fewer. — Less relates to quantity; fewer to number. [See Quan¬ 
tity. ] “I have less money than he has, but he has fewer friends than I have.” 

16. Likewise, Also. — Likewise, which means ‘ in like manner,’ is misused 
for also. “ Also classes together things or qualities, whilst likewise couples ac- 
tions or states of being.”— Mathews. (395.) 

17. Love and Like. —These words should not be used indiscriminately. Love 
is much the stronger term and should not be applied except to those objects 
for which a person may have affection, or to which he may be devoted. We 
may like peaches, flowers, to hear someone sing, and so forth, but we should 
not speak of loving such things. 

18. Majority. —This word is not applicable to anything but persons. It is 
erroneously used in such expressions as, “ a majority of the time ; ” “a majority 
of the money.” Say ‘ the greater part,’ or ‘ more than half.’ 

19. Mind. —This word is, by many, incorrectly used for remember ; as, “ Do 
you mind that time ? ” 


138 


PLAIN ENGLISH. 


274-. I. Mistaken.— The principal parts of mistake (mis-take, i. e.> ‘to 
take amiss ’) are mistake , mistook , mistaken. The verb is correctly used in “ He 
mistook me for another person.” “ Smith was mistaken for another man hav¬ 
ing the same name.” “Your statement was mistaken (‘ misunderstood ’) by 
the class.” This is the true meaning of mistaken ; but nothing is more com¬ 
mon than to hear persons say, “ I am mistaken ” or “ was mistaken about it, ” 
“ You are mistaken about that matter,” and so forth, by which they mean, not 
that the person has been ‘ taken amiss ’ or that his words are misunderstood, 
but that he is (or was) incorrect , or in error. [ See 262 4 .] 

2. Nice. —To say the least, this word is very much overworked, and its in¬ 
discriminate use for ‘ fine,’ ‘ pleasant,’ ‘ good,’ etc., should be avoided. (396.) 

3. Own.—This word means primarily ‘ to possess,’ and there is no excuse 
for its use in The sen se c>f admiL^rr confess : as, “I own he has good grounds 
for complaint.” (397.) 

4. Party for person , man, or woman .—A party is a number of persons 
united or gathered for some purpose. The term is also applied to one person 
who takes a part with others in anything. Hence we talk of a man’s being 
party to a crime (particeps criminis) pr of his being one of the parties to a 
contract. But to speak of “ the party who called upon me yesterday ” is an in¬ 
correct use of the word,—a use quite unnecessary. 

5. Partially for partly .—“ Partially,” the adverb of partial , means an un¬ 
just or unreasonable bias. When anything is done in part it is partly (not 
partially) done. 



6. Patrons for customers. Patronage for trade. — Patron means one 
who supports, favors, protects, or gives aid to another who is dependent upon 
him. The misuse of this word for customers is quite common in this country,, 
as is also the use of patronage for trade. 

Patronage means “ special countenance, favor, or aid afforded to second the 
views of a person or to promote a design.” The commercial use of the word so 
common in this country is mere cant and should be discarded. Such expressions 
as, “ The favor of your patronage is solicited,” “ Thanking you for the favor of 
your patronage,” etc., are absurd. “The favor of your patronage ” is equivalent 
to “ the favor of your favor.” 

7. Particle.— This word, which means the smallest possible part of a ma¬ 
terial substance, is incorrectly applied to things that are not material, hence not 
divisible into parts; as, “ I did not get a particle of rest last night.” “ They 
did not derive a particle of benefit from it.” Any may be substituted for “ par¬ 
ticle ” in these sentences. Bit may also be used to take its place, though it is 
open to the same criticism as ‘ particle.’ 

8. Pell-mell.— This word or expression implies a crowd and should never 
be applied to one person ; as, “ He rushed out of the house pell-mell." (398.). 





/ 


PLAIN ENGLISH. 139 

9. Plenty .—-The misuse of this noun for the adjective “ plentiful ” has 
been pointed out. (Page no.) Plenty means a sufficient supply of anything 
but it does not refer to numbers. It is correctly used in, “ There is plenty of 
ropm for all.” “There is plenty of food,” etc.; but incorrectly used in such 
sentences as, “ Plenty of the crowd were willing to undertake it.” “ Plenty of 
us were present to transact the business.” This use'of the word is just as 
absurd as to say, as some people do, that “ an abundance of us were present,” or 
that “ an abundance of the crowd were willing ”—etc. 

10. Portion for part. —“ A portion is a part set aside for a special purpose, 
or to be considered by itself.”— White. Hence it is incorrect to say “ A large 
portion of the city was destroyed by fire; ” “ He was absent a portion of the 
time.” Portion is correctly used in the speech of the prodigal son [Luke xv, 12]: 

“ Father, give me the portion of goods that falleth to me.” 

11. Post for inform .—“You should post yourself on that point.” “We 
will keep you posted in regard to the matter.”. Say ‘ inform ’ or ‘ informed.’ 

12. Present for introduce .—The use of present for introduce in the sense of 
‘ make acquainted ’ (as to introduce a friend) is a French affectation that should 
be avoided by all lovers of pure English. (399.) 

13. Quantity, Number .—Quantity has reference to that which may be 
weighed or measured; number has reference to that which is counted. 

14. Raise.—This word is sometimes incorrectly used for increase in such sen¬ 
tences as, “ Our landlord has raised the rent.” “ I shall be obliged to raise your 
rent.” (400.) Lower is similarly misused; as, “ They lowered his wages.” 

15. Recommend.—“The committee recommends that a special meeting ^ 
shall be called.” Say ‘ advises,’ ‘ suggests,’ or ‘ requests.’ 

16. Recollect, Remember.—These words are not synonymous, though they 
are generally used as though they were. We may be able to recollect (re-col¬ 
lect) what we have forgotten, that is, what we do not at the moment remember . 
Hence, “I cannot remember,” or “I am not able to remember,” are incorrect; 
and so is “ I recollect very well when it happened.” (401.) 

17. Reputable for respectable. —A man’s reputation is what other people 

think of him, the estimation in which he is held. That reputation may be 
either good or bad. [ See p. 97. ] Hence to say of a man that he is a reputable 
person is rather indefinite. The writer of an article which recently appeared in 
one of our leading magazines said concerning the proceedings in a certain 
meeting, “It was a scene calculated to make every reputable citizen of the 
State hang his head in humiliation.” He should have said “ every respectable 
citizen.” Calculated.] 

18. Section.—This is a good word, but much used, and umiecessarily so, for 
‘ part,’ ‘ region,’ ‘ neighborhood,’ ‘ vicinity.’ 






140 


PLAIN ENGLISH. 


275. I. Settle.—“To settle is to fix firmly and so to adjust ; and there¬ 
fore the adjusting of accounts is well called by figure their settlement.”— White. 
Nothing is gained but something lost by using settle for pay, for, in the lan¬ 
guage of Mr. White, “It displaces one good word and perverts another; while 
the use of ‘ settle ’ without any object, which is sometimes heard, as, ‘ Hadn’t 
you better settle with me,’ is hideous.” 

2. Some time and sometime.—In writing of an indefinite time, use some¬ 
time, but if referring to a length of time, use some time; as, “ I will tell you 
sometime.” “ It will take some time to finish the work.” 

3. State for say .—“ State , from status , means to set forth the condition un¬ 
der which a person, or thing, or a cause stands. A bankrupt is called upon to 
state his condition, to make a statement of his affairs. But if a man merely 
says a thing, do let us say merely that he says it.”— White. 

4* Stop and stay .—Stop means to halt, to quit going, and should not be 
used to mean stay (remain) at a*^place for a length of time. A railway train 
may stop at each of the stations along the line but the length of time it stays 
at these stations will probably vary. A man should not speak of ‘ stopping at a 
hotel ’ for two days or two weeks. The ‘ stop ’ is instantaneous ; the ‘ stay ’ may 
continue indefinitely. 

5. Storm.—This word, as it is used by most persons, might be classed with 
4t extravagant expressions.” Storm means a fierce commotion of the elements 
and should not be applied to gentle rains, slight snow- falls, and so forth. 

6. Take for charge. — Take is incorrectly used for charge after how much , 

in such expressions as, “ How much will you take to teach me to paint ? ” “ How 
much will you take for this? ” Take is correctly used in : “ What is the least 

you will take for the horse ? ” Even here, accept is a better word. 

Take is further misused for lead or direct in, “ This path will take you to 
his house.” “This road will take you to town.” 

7. Talk for speak .—Talk is often misused for speak in such expressions 
as, “ He talks German.” “ She talks French.” Say ‘ He speaks German,’ etc. 

8. Try for make .—In the expression “ try the experiment,” try.is incor¬ 
rectly used for make. Say ‘ make the experiment.’ 

9. Turn for pour .—Say ‘ pour the tea,’ ‘ pour the coffee,’ ‘ pour the water,’ 
not ‘ turn the tea,’ ‘ turn the coffee,’ etc. 

10. Veracity and Truth. — Veracity (truthfulness) is applicable to per¬ 
sons only ; truth to things. “ A story is or is not true ; a man is or is not vera¬ 
cious—if truthful is too plain a word. We may doubt the truth of a story be¬ 
cause we doubt the veracity, or, better, the truthfulness, of the teller.”— Words 
and Their Uses. 


PLAIN ENGLISH. 


141 


BIG WORDS FOR LITTLE IDEAS. 

270. i. Abundance.— This word is applicable to quantity only. It 
should never be used when numbers are referred to. [See Quantity and 
Plenty , p. 139.] 

2. Accord for grant. —To accord means properly ‘to agree to,’ ‘to suit;' 
as, “ His views accorded with mine ; ” but “ We will accord them ( or to them > 
all they ask for ” is incorrect. 

3. Anticipate. —This big word is often misused for the simple term expect ,. 

in such sentences as, “I anticipate going.” “Do you anticipate a large crowd 
tonight ? ” It is correctly used in the following sentence : “ My friend antici¬ 

pated my wishes and made me a present of a copy of the poems.” (402.) 

4. Appreciate for rise, or ‘ increase in value ; * as, “Gold usually appreci¬ 
ates under such circumstances.” This is an Americanism that should be 
avoided by all who wish to talk to be understood. 

5. Caption. —This word is sometimes misused for title or heading. (403.). 

6. Carnival. —The radical and literal meaning of this word is ‘ farewell to 

meat.’ In Catholic countries it signifies a festival celebrated with merriment 
and revelry during the week before Lent, but in this country the word has been 
misused to signify a spree, frolic, or festival of any kind. Mathews, comment¬ 
ing on this word, says: “ As we have plenty of legitimate words to describe 

these festivals, the use of this outlandish term has not a shadow of justification.’' 

7. Celebrities. —The use of this word for celebrated persons or persons of 
celebrity belongs to an inflated, newspaper style too common in this country.. 
In fact, its use has hardly passed beyond reporters’ columns, but persons with 
big-word tendencies would do well to guard against it. 

8. Consummated. —Persons who speak of weddings and say that the mar¬ 
riage was consummated at such a time or such a place might better confine 
themselves to plain English and say that the ceremony or wedding ‘ occurred ' 
or ‘ took place,’ etc. 

9. Contemplate for intend or expect. — Contemplate means primarily to 
study, to consider, to meditate upon. Persons who are predisposed to use big^ 
words will often say they ‘contemplate,’ when they mean and might better say,, 
simply, that they intend or expect to do so and so. 

10. Depreciate for lessen or decrease. —This word may properly be used in 
the sense of ‘ underrate ’ or ‘ to represent as of little value,’ but its use in the 
sense of ‘ lessen ’ or ‘ decrease ’ is as unnecessary and inexcusable as appreciate 
for ‘ rise ’ or ‘ increase.’ 


142 


PLAIN ENGLISH. 


277 . n. Disremember.—This is certainly a poor substitute for ‘ forget’ 
or ‘ do not remember.’ 

12. Extend for give or send. —Persons who wished to appear elegant in their 
language began to say “extend invitation,” “extend congratulations;” and 
now nearly every one uses the word in these connections, supposing it to be a 
synonym of give or send. But such a use of the word is unwarranted. Extend 
means ‘ to stretch forth,’ ‘ to prolong,’ ‘ to enlarge; ’ hence it is correct to speak 
of extending the time of a bill or note, or of extending one’s hand, or to say of 
a queen that ‘ her object is to extend her domains.’ (2.) 

13. Gubernatorial.—Richard Grant White, in “ Words and their Uses,” 
classes this among the ‘ words that are not words ’ and comments upon it as fol¬ 
lows : “ This clumsy piece of verbal pomposity should be thrust out of use and 
that speedily. While the chief officers of states are called governors and not 
gubernators, we may better speak of the governor’s house, and of the governor’s 
room than of the ‘ gubernatorial mansion ’ and the ‘ gubernatorial chamber ; ’ 
and why that which relates to government should be called * gubernatorial ’ 
rather than governmental, except for tEe sake of being at once pedantic, un¬ 
couth, and outlandish, it would be hard to tell.” 

14. Inaugurate for adopt , begin, open, establish. — Inaugurate means prima¬ 
rily ‘ to introduce or induct into an office with suitable ceremonies.’ It does 
not mean adopt, begin, etc., except as it has been forced to such a meaning by 
persons for whom the latter words are too ordinary. We adopt measures, meth¬ 
ods, etc.; we begin, open, establish a business ; we inaugurate Presidents. (404.) 

15. Initiate.—“ Initiate is one of the long, pretentious words that are com¬ 
ing into vogue among those who would be fine. It means begin; no more, no 
less.”— White. (405.) 

16. Militate for oppose, contend, ‘ to be at variance with ; ’ as, “ The circum¬ 
stances militate against such a view of the case.” 

17. Obnoxious for offensive. — Obnoxious means ‘liable’ or ‘exposed to 
harm,’ and its use (unknown until about the beginning of the present century) 
in the sense of “ offensive ” should be avoided. 

iS. Observe for say. —The primary meaning of observe is to keep carefully, 
to heed; as, to observe the Sabbath; but the word is sometimes incorrectly 
used in the sense of say. (406.) 

19. Paraphernalia.—This big word from the Greek is often misused by 
people who do not understand its literal meaning and who might better say 
‘ ornaments ’ or ‘trappings’ instead. (407.) 

20. Partake for eat. — Partake means literally ‘ to take a part,’ and while it 
has its proper use it is too often misused for the simple word eat; as, “ He par¬ 
took of his breakfast in silence.” 


PLAIN ENGLISH. 


143 


21. Perambulate for walk or stroll. —Those who have a fondness for big 
words to express little ideas speak of “ perambulating the streets,” or “ per¬ 
ambulating through the park,” when they mean “ walking,” or “ strolling.” 

22. Predicate for found or base—Predicate as a Verb means ‘ to speak be¬ 

fore,’ hence, ‘ to assert,’ ‘ to declare ; ’ but some persons with an affectation to 
learning have used it in the sense of base or found; as, “ What action shall we 
predicate upon the statements made by the committee? ” (408.) 

23. Proposition for offer or proposal —A proposal is something offered to 
be done. The use of proposition to signify ‘ proposal ’ or ‘ offer ’ is unnecessary, 
and its use in that sense in commercial affairs doubtless grew out of the tendency 
to use high-sounding terms where small terms would do just as well. Propo¬ 
sition has its other legitimate meanings, to which it should be confined. 

24. Remunerate, Reimburse.—The primary meaning of remunerate is ‘ to 
pay,’ ‘ to reward ; ’ that of reimburse is ‘ to pay back,’ ‘ to restore.’ Persons who 
do not know the difference between the two words but insist upon using “ big 
words for little ideas” are liable to get them ridiculously mixed. We remuner¬ 
ate (pay or reward) a man for services rendered, and we may say of a man’s 
business that it is remunerative—one that pays well. A bankrupt’s assets may 
partly reimburse his creditors; or w T e may reimburse a man for expenses he has 
incurred in doing business for us ; that is, we pay back to him the sum he has 
paid out for us. 

25. Retire .—Retire has a clear meaning and well defined uses, not one of 
which is in the sense of going to bed. “ If you are going to bed, say so, should 
there be occasion ; don’t talk about retiring unless you would seem like a prig 
or prurient prude.”— Words and Their Uses. 

26. Transpire for happen or take place .—Probably no more striking per¬ 
version of a word from its true meaning can be found than that of transpire , 
when used in the sense of ‘happen,’ ‘occur,’ ‘take place.’ The real meaning 
of the word is become known ; or it may be expressed by the phrase “leak out.” 
Mr. White, in Words and Their Uses, gives the following test of the correct use 
of transpire: “ If the phrase take place can be substituted for it and the intended 
meaning of the sentence is preserved, its use is unquestionably wrong; if the 
other colloquial phrase leak out [become known] can be putin its place, its use 
is correct.” 

27. Witness for see or behold, etc .—The use of witness in the sense of “ see ” 
is wholly unnecessary and without excuse. Witness as a verb has its well estab¬ 
lished and legitimate use in the sense of attest, or bear testimony from personal 
knowledge. Hence we speak of witnessing a deed or other writing, of being an 
eye witness, and of witnessing (testifying) in a casein court; but we should 
not talk of having ‘ witnessed ’ a game of ball, of ‘ witnessing ’ ( seeing, or be¬ 
holding, ) a sad sight, unless we wish to appear affected. 


.po 


144 


PLAIN ENGLISH. 


COUNTERFEIT WORDS. 


278 . i. Anyways.— The s of this word is incorrectly added, as it is in 
anywheres , everyways, noways, nowheres, everywheres, backwards , forwards, 
towards , upwards, downwards, afterwards , homewards, &c., all of which should 
be written without the s. (72 s .) Likewise, the in amidst, amongst, whilst , 
is superfluous. [ See 409-10. ] 

2. Authoress ; also doctress, editress, poetess, &c. As well might we say 

writeress, singeress, lawyercss, as authoress, etc. A poet is one who writes 
poetry; an editor, one who edits— not a man who edits, but a person who 
edits. Edward S. Gould (“Good English”) says of the words “authoress” 
and “ poetess: ’ “ They are philological absurdities, because they are fabricated 

on the false assumption that their primaries indicate men.” 

3. Agriculturalist. —This word should be agriculturist, just as we speak 
of a chemist, a geologist, not of a chemicalist, a geologicalist. Oj c \ 

4. Casuality. —The proper form is casualty. 

5. Conversationalist. —This word should be converser or conversationist; 
but most persons give it the unnecessary and incorrect syllable al, just as they 
do agriculturist. 



6. Controversialist.— This word is a counterfeit of the same stamp as con¬ 
versationalist, being incorrectly formed from the adjective when it should have 
been formed upon the verb controvert. The legitimate form is controverter 
or controvertist. 

7. Direful.— We hear of “direful results,” “a direful calamity,” and so 
forth. Adjectives ending in ful are formed by suffixing the adjective full to 
nouns. Such adjectives are said to be “ self-defining.” Their strict meaning 
is obtained by transposing the parts and placing of between them; thus, 
beautiful— ‘full of beauty;’ merciful—' fw\\ of mercy;’ or, in their common 
meaning, ‘ possessing beauty,’ ‘ having mercy.’ But there is no such noun as 
dire. How then can we have direful? —‘ full of (or possessing) dire! ’ Of 
course, direfully (adv.) also is spurious. Dreadful, terrible, and woeful, express 
the idea intended by direful. 


8. Donate. —Webster calls attention to the use of this word as being “ of 
recent origin.” It is, to say the least, a poor substitute for give, present, etc. 


9. Electrocuted. — Executed, in the sense of ‘put to death,’ ‘hanged,’ 
‘beheaded,’ ‘shot,’ is bad; but what shall we say of the absurd electrocuted 
which we are beginning to see in print ? It has been erroneously formed on the 
assumption that the cute in execute means ‘ to kill,’ which it does not It is 
from sequi, meaning ‘ to follow.’ 



PLAIN ENGLISH. 


145 


10. Enthused.—Some persons talk of being enthused over a matter, meaning 
that they are aroused, stirred, excited, or inspired. This word was doubtless 
obtained, as Mr. White says, “ by the backward process of making some kind of 
verb from the noun enthusiasm , as donate was formed from donation ,”—a pro¬ 
cess of derivation (if such it may be called) that is contrary to the laws of 
growth and development of language. 

11. Fellowship, Disfellowship, as verbs.—Example: An attempt to dis- 
fellowship an evil but to fellowship the evil doer. Nouns ending with ship 
express a condition or state; as, guardianship, authorship; and so, fellowship, 
meaning a condition or state of those who are associates or fellows , or who 
fellow with each other {fellow being an allowable verb). It would be just as 
reasonable to say of two queens that they will not queenship with each other, or 
that two senators will not senatorship with each other, as to say of two persons 
that they will not fellowship with each other. What is meant is that they will 
not associate with each other. 

12. Firstly.—Why first/y any more than eighth/y, tenth/)', and so forth? 
Webster says of firstly, “ Incorrectly used for first." 

13. Gent and Pants.— Gent is a vulgar contraction of gentleman. Pant, 
as a verb, means ‘ to breathe quickly,’ ‘ to gasp;’ as a noun, it means ‘ a catching 
of the breath,’ ‘ a gasp.’ Yet we see such signs as “ Pants for sale,” “ Pants made 
to order.” , One who understands the legitimate meaning of the word can 
hardly refrain from asking “How much a pant?" To say the least, these two 
words are poor substitutes for the genteel gentleman and pantaloons. (411.) 

14. Hydropathy, Electropathy.—These are monstrous absurdities gotten 
up by some one who wanted something more high-sounding than water-cure 
and electric-cure, which they are supposed to mean but which they do not 
mean. Hydro means ‘ water ’; pathy is from a Greek word which means ‘ suffer¬ 
ing ’ or ‘ disease ’; and so hydropathy literally means “ water disease ” and 
electropathy, correctly rendered, is “ electric disease.” 

15. Ice-water, Ice-cream.—rt is not uncommon to see in print, or to hear 
the compound “iced-tea,” which is the correct form, meaning tea that has been 
made cold by the use of ice. We should, for the same reason, say iced-water, 
instead of “ ice-water,” since we do not really mean water made from ice. Nor 
does “ ice-cream” mean cream made from ice; hence it is properly iced-cream . 
“ Strictly iced-water, iced-cream."—Century Dictionary. 

16. Intercessed.—Persons who say they have been intercessed to do so and 
so mean that they have been e?itreated or urged. There is a noun intercession, 
and a verb intercede, which means ‘ to go between,’ but there is no such verb 
as intercess from which the participle intercessed may be formed. 

17. Intercessionate.—‘ To intercede with.’ [ Rare. ]— Century Dictionary . 
Tet us hope that it may continue to be “ rare.” 


146 


PLAIN ENGLISH. 

279. i. Jeopardize.— This word is improperly used for the verb jeopard, 
the suffix ize being incorrectly added. A similar error has been made in the 
formation of experimentalize, which also is a counterfeit. (410.) 

2. Leniency. —There is properly no such word as this. It has been ignor¬ 
antly used in place of lenity. 

3. Practitioneer. —From the verb practice, we may and do have the noun 
practicer (or practiser), but there is no excuse for such a pretender as prac- 
titioneer. 

4. Presidential. —As well might we say parential, governmental, as 
presidential. Adjectives in ial are formed from nouns in ce; as, official, com¬ 
mercial, etc.; but the regular way of forming adjectives from nouns ending in 
ent is to add simply al; as, parental, governmental, incidental, and hence, presi- 
dentak “ The proper form would be presidential.”— Century Dictionary. 

5. Preventative. —The correct form is preventive. 

6. Proven. — Prove is a “ regular ” verb, and hence its past and perfect 
participle forms are made by adding d; but proven is as base a coin as loven 
would be; as, for example, “Ephraim has proven that he has loven Susanna 
all the time.” 

7. Resurrect, Resurrected.— The use of this word as a transitive verb 
should be avoided by all who love purity of speech. It is a sacrilegious distor¬ 
tion of the idea of resurrection. Resurrection is a noun meaning ‘ rising again ’ 
—rising from the dead. There is no such verb as resurrect , and to make one 
by backward process from the noun resurrection is of a piece with donate from 
donation, and intercess from intercession. This trio of intruders should keep 
company with one another in banishment. 

8. Stand-point. —Compounds made by the union of a noun with a noun, or 
a participle with a noun, are “ self-defining ; ” that is, their meaning may be 
expressed by reversing the order of the parts and placing of or for between 
them. Thus, house-top, ‘ top of house ; ’ bread-knife, ‘ knife for bread; ’ sewing- 
machine, ‘ machine for sewing ; ’ landing-place , ‘ place of, or for, lauding.’ But 
how about stand-point ? ‘ Point of, or for, stand ’ does not make sense. Stand¬ 
ing-point is a point of, or for, standing ; ’ but this is not what is meant by stand¬ 
point. The phrase point of view is the correct expression. Those who will 
insist on one word for convenience’ sake might use view-point. (65°.) 

9. Underhanded. —“ He did it in an underhanded way.” There being no 
verb or noun underhand, how can we have the participially formed adjective, 
underhanded? [See6S 2 and 69k] Underhand is a good adjective, formed by 
prefixing under to the noun hand. 

4 


PLAIN ENGLISH. 


147 


CLEARNESS AND FORCE. 

280. Objects of Speech. —In using language, whether by tongue 
or pen, we should have two objects in view: 

1. Speaking to express our thoughts; 

2. Speaking to impress our thoughts. 

In other words, our speech should be : i. Clear,— easily under¬ 
stood; 2. Forcible,— impressive. If we have thoughts that are 
worth expressing, they should be expressed in language that has 
these two qualities, clearness and force. Of the two, clearness is 
the more important, since language cannot be forcible unless it is 
first clear in meaning. The opposite of clearness is obscurity. 
Obscure language is always weak , —the opposite of forcible. 

Ambiguity is another thing that is opposed to clearness. An 
ambiguous sentence is one whose meaning is uncertain, because 
it may be construed to mean either of two things. 

281. Causes of Obscurity. —The principal causes of obscurity 
are: i. Misplaced words, phrases and clauses; 2. Ambiguous 
use of pronouns; 3. Unnecessary words; 4. Long sentences; 
5. Misuse of words; 6. Incorrect punctuation. 

282. Misplaced Words. —When a word is so placed that its 
meaning may be taken in either of two ways, its position is 
faulty. A general rule is that words should be placed so that 
their meaning cannot be mistaken. 

In Latin and other inflected languages—the German, French, etc.,—the form 
of the word indicates its use in the sentence, and a change in the position or 
order of the words does not affect the meaning. But in English, which has al¬ 
most no words whose forms indicate their use, we must depend upon the posi¬ 
tion of a word in a sentence. A single misplaced word may change the meaning 
of the entire sentence or make it ambiguous,—uncertain in meaning. In Latin, 
the form of words is everything; in English, the order of words is the principal 
thing. The Latin sentence is constructed on true grammatical principles; the 
English sentence, on logical principles. 


14S 


PLAIN ENGLISH. 


283. Adverbs. —The words most likely to cause obscurity by be¬ 
ing misplaced are adverbs. Of these, only , not only , alone , always, 
loo , nearly , merely , mostly , and chiefly are the most troublesome.. 
Probably no word in common use is so difficult to handle as 0 /z/p. 
As a rule, an adverb should stand next the word it modifies., 
usually just before it. 

Tell what idea is conveyed by the italicized word in each of the 
following sentences; then change the position of the adverb so 
as to express the meaning intended, as shown by the co-ordinate 
construction: 

1. I saw him only; I did not speak to him. 

2. I have escaped alone; no one else escaped. 

3. I merely spoke of figures; I did not speak of letters. 

4. The natives chiefly live on rice; they eat scarcely anything else. 

5. We only tried the last one ; we did not try the others. 

6. He not only makes shoes, but boots also. 

7. All men are not to be trusted, for some are dishonest. 

8. They will, too, not merely interest children, but grown-up persons. 

9. Thales was not only famous for his knowledge of nature, but for his- 
moral wisdom. 

10. By greatness, I do not only mean the bulk of any single object, but the 
largeness of a whole view.— : Addison. 

11. The result is not pleasant to us only because it fulfills our predictions, 
but because any other would have been productive of mischief —Spectator. 

Quintilian’s Rule: “Care should be taken, not that the hearer may 
understand, but that he must understand, whether he will or not.” 

(a) Change the position of the italicized words in the following 
sentences, and tell how the meaning is affected by the change. 
See how many different meanings can be conveyed by the same 
word in different positions. 

1. I am almost ready to believe that they are all dunces. 

2. I then understood why you did not go. 

3. He stopped asking questions abruptly and left the room. 

4. I have wondered often how it was done. 

5. Only yesterday we received an order for fifty of this kind. 

6. The heavens are open to the faithful only at intervals. 

7. These will raise a man above any disappointments, and, by leading him 
only to feed his heart upon expectations which are likely to be realized, will do- 
very much towards making him rejoice evermore.— Fox. 


PLAIN ENGLISH. 


149 


28-L Adjectives.—Change the position of the italicized words 
in the following, and tell how the meaning is affected by the 
change. If necessary, introduce a preposition to improve the 
expression: 

i. It was a black man’s hat. 2. Fine lady’s handkerchiefs for sale. 3. Ele¬ 
gant children’s suits at low prices. 4. He found a gold gentleman’s watch. 
5. We sell ready-made gentlemen’s overcoats very cheap. 6. A large stock of 
plush ladies’ card cases just received. 7. Copper-toed children’s shoes wear 
best. 8. Steel boy’s skates for Christmas presents. 

Remark : Descriptive words misplaced in this way do not often obscure the 
meaning, as in the first sentence above, but they weaken the expression by 
making it ludicrous. 

(a) Comparative adjectives, such as larger , better , clearer , and 
contrasting adjectives, such as different and other , are often un¬ 
necessarily separated from their correlative words. 

Examples : Yours is a different view of the matter from mine. 

His was a clearer statement of the case than any I had heard. 

While in such cases the meaning is, no doubt, clear enough, 
the sentences are smoother and more forcible if written thus-: 

Your view of the matter is different from mine. 

His statement of the case was clearer than any I had heard. 

Improve the following sentences in the same way : 

1. This is a larger tract of land than I had supposed. 

2. We could take no other course with him than the one we took. 

3. They can accomplish more by working together than separately. 

4. These are similar letters to the one I received from him. 

5. This is a different course of proceeding from what we expected. 

6. That is a much better statement of the case than yours. 

7. The majority of persons are better educated in these days than people 
were then. 

285. Position of Phrases and Clauses.—As with words, so with 
phrases and clauses. They should be so placed that their mean¬ 
ing cannot be misunderstood. 

Under this head may be considered two classes of errors: 
1 . What are known as “squinting constructions;” 2 . Incongru¬ 
ous arrangement of phrases and clauses. 


150 


PLAIN ENGLISH. 


286 . Squinting Constructions. —This is one of the worst forms 
of obscurity, and one of the most difficult to avoid. It consists 
in throwing a word, phrase, or clause into a sentence so that it 
seems to look both ways; that is, it may be taken as belonging 
either to what goes before or to what follows. 

Example: When I hear a person use a queer expression, or pronounce a 
name in reading differently from his neighbors, etc.— Dean Alford. 

In this sentence, the phrase “ in reading ” looks two ways. It may be 
taken as meaning “ pronounce a name in reading,” or “ in reading differently 
from his neighbors.” A better arrangement is, “ When I hear a person use 
a queer expression, or, in reading, pronounce a name differently from,” etc. 

Point out the “squinting” construction in each of the follow¬ 
ing sentences; then re-construct the sentence so as to clear it of 
the ambiguity: 

1. And thus the son the fervent sire addressed. 

2. It shames man not to feel man’s human fear. 

3. Tell him, if he is in the parlor, I do not care to see him. 

4. The Romans understood liberty, at least, as well as we. 

5. I said he is dishonest, it is true, and I am sorry for it. 

6. Are these designs of which any man who was born in Britain, in any cir¬ 
cumstances, ought to be ashamed ? 

7. The poor little child, after searching from one end of the market to the 
other, for a penny, at last, bought an apple. 

8. Though some of the European rulers may be females, when spoken of 
altogether, they may be correctly classified under the denomination “ kings.” 

9. The minister who grows less by his elevation, like a statue on a mighty 
pedestal, will always have his jealousy strong about him.— Bolingbroke. 

10. Though our brother is upon the rack, as long as we ourselves are at ease, 
our senses will never inform us of what he suffers.— Smith. 

11. This work in its full extent, being now afflicted with an asthma, and find¬ 
ing the power of life gradually declining, he had no longer courage to under¬ 
take.— -Johnson. 

12. Since it is necessary that there should be a perpetual intercourse of 
buying and selling, and dealing upon credit, where fraud is permitted or con¬ 
nived at, or hath no law to punish it, the honest dealer is always undone, and the 
knave gets the advantage.— Swift. 

287 . Incongruous Arrangement. —Phrases are often carelessly 
placed in such a way that while they do not obscure the meaning, 


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151 


they make the language inconsistent or ludicrous, thus detracting 
from its force. Re-arrange the following sentences so as to ex¬ 
press the meaning obviously intended. 

1. It is the mind which does the work of the world after all. 

2. It was my intention to begin the work every day this week. 

3. A charitable lady wishes to adopt a little boy with a small family. 

4. The child ran and screamed the moment it saw the dog, trembling from 
head to foot. 

5. We could see the ship gliding under full sail through a spy-glass. 

6. He received a reward for his bravery and the praise of all. 

7. Dr. Hall will deliver a lecture on the importance of taking exercise before 
breakfast at three o’clock in the afternoon. 

8. Wanted:—A room for a single gentleman not smaller than twelve feet 
long and eight feet wide. 

9. A gentleman will let his house going abroad for the summer to a small 
family containing all modern improvements. 

10. First prize to be given to the best lady and gentleman waltzer, consist¬ 
ing of a pair of solid gold bracelets and a medal. 

11. Second prize to be given to the best polka couple, consisting of a pair of 
opera glasses and a medal. 

12. Passengers are requested to purchase tickets before entering the cars 
at the company’s office. 

13. I cannot think of leaving you without distress. 

14. The newspapers recommended that a meeting be called of the citizens. 

15. He robbed an old man and then murdered him of $700. 

16. The following lines were written by a gentleman who died some years 
ago for mere amusement. 

17. The witness was ordered to withdraw from the bar in consequence of 
being intoxicated by the motion of an honorable member. 

18. The beaux of that day used the abominable art of painting their faces 
as well as the women. 

19. Wanted:—A saddle horse for a lady, weighing about 900 pounds. 

20. The other witness was a man with one eye named Robert Welch. 

21. A man was killed by a railroad car running into Boston supposed to be 

deaf. . 

22. I guarantee to sell a better hat than any competitor for less money. 

23. What is the correct journal entry, no entry having been made of the 
patent on the books? 

24. Merchants are too liable to be fined if found selling these slunks for 
violation of the law. 

25. An editor of a newspaper says : “ We have received a basket of fine 

grapes from our friend Mr. Wilson, for which he will please accept our compli¬ 
ments, some of which are nearly two inches in diameter.” 


152 


PLAIN ENGLISH. 


26. The undersigned took up two young mares four or five years old, adark 
iron gray, one having a wart on the right side of her head eight miles north of 
Atlanta. 

27. By the time I had taken five bottles, I found myself completely cured, 
after having been brought so near to the gate of death, by means of your in¬ 
valuable medicine. 

28. Rats and gentlemen catched and waited on and all other jobs performed 
by Solomon Gundy.— Advertisement. 

Note— The last sentence belongs to a class of errors known as “cross-constructions." 
Similar to it are the following : 

29. A keen eye and a graphic pen see and set down for us the characteristic 
details of both scenery and manners. 

30. All goes on satisfactorily at Winchester, the attention and attendance, I 
think, gradually deepening and increasing. 

31. The actual gross hypocrisy of the Tartufee and the Mawworm is abhored 
and condemned by every heart and tongue. 

32. To any person an apology might be necessary; to you whose friendship 
can neither be heated nor cooled by correspondence or silence, I offer none. 

288. Pronouns. —Obscurity often results from carelessness in 
the use of pronouns, particularly the personals, he , she , they , and it. 

Examples: The boy assured his father that he was perfectly safe. Mr. Jones 
said he had talked with Mr. Brown again and that he now considered his plan 
impracticable. 

In the first example, it is not clear who “ was perfectly safe ; ” while in the 
second, it is uncertain whose “ plan ” is referred to. 

In such cases, the obscurity may be avoided by reporting the speech in the 
first or second person, or by repeating the name; thus— 

The boy said to his father, “you are (or, lam) perfectly safe.” Mr. Jones 
said that he had talked with Mr. Brown again and that he now considered Mr. 
Brown’s (or, the latter’s) plan impracticable. 

If, however, it is Mr. Jones’s plan that is referred to, a repetition of the 
name is not sufficient to make the sentence clear; for “ Mr. Jones said that he 
had talked with Mr. Brown again, and that Mr. Brown now considered his plan 
impracticable,” might mean that Mr. Brown now considered his own plan im¬ 
practicable, or that Mr. Brown now considered Mr. Jones’s plan impracticable. 
In such cases, repeat the statement in the second person, thus:— 

Mr. Jones said, “I have talked with Mr. Brown again and I now consider 
his plan impracticable;” or, “he now considers my plan impracticable.” 

( a ) Relative pronouns (with the clauses introduced by them ) 
are often misplaced. In some cases, the effect is merely an 


PLAIN ENGLISH. 


153 


awkward or ludicrous sentence ; but in others, the result is ob¬ 
scurity, the antecedent of the relative being uncertain. 

Examples : Everybody is leaving the doomed city that can get away. 

It is folly to pretend to arm ourselves against the accidents of life, by heap¬ 
ing up treasures, which nothing can protect us against but the good providence 
of our Heavenly Father.— Sherlock. 

In the first example, the meaning is plain enough, but the logical arrange¬ 
ment is, “ Everybody that can get away is leaving the doomed city.” In the 
second example, the antecedent of which is not so clear. As it stands, it seems 
to refer to treasures. The writer meant, however, to have it refer to accidents , 
and the arrangement should have been, “ It is folly to pretend, by heaping up 
treasures, to arm ourselves against the accidents of life which nothing can 
protect us against,” etc. Relative clauses should be so placed that there can be 
no doubt as to what is the antecedent of the relative. 

Re-write the following sentences, so as to clear them of ob¬ 
scurity : 

1. John told his brother that he thought'he ought to help him all he could. 

2. Mary wrote to her friend that her mother wanted her to come home. 

3. The intellectual qualities of the youth were superior to those of his 
raiment. 

4. The boy promised his father that he would pa}' his debts. 

5. The farmer went to his neighbor and told him that his cattle were in his 
fields. 

6. His servant being sick, he consented to allow his brother, a timid youth 
from the country, to take his place for a short time, and during that short time 
he was a constant annoyance to him. 

7. Did you return that book to the library which I loaned you ? 

8. I allude to the article BLIND in the Encyclopaedia Britanuica published 
at Edinburgh in the year 1783, which was written by him.— Mackenzie. 

9. Thus I have fairly given you, Sir, my own opinion, as well as that of a 
great majority of both houses here, relating to this weighty affair, upon which 
I am confident you may securely reckon.— Swift. 

10. From a habit of saving time and paper, which they acquired at the uni¬ 
versity, they write in so diminutive a manner, etc.— Swift. 

11. Jler own story was that she had a quarrel with the deceased, first about 
her wages, and secondly about the soup, and that she seized the deceased by 
the throat, and she fell, and when she got up she was looking for something to 
strike her with, and upon this she struck the deceased a blow on the throat, and 
.she fell, and died almost instantaneously. 

289. Unnecessary Words. —As a rule, whatever does not add 


154 


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to the thought, detracts just so much from its clearness and force. 
The unnecessary word that simply does not add to the sense is 
said to be redundant. When the word repeats an idea in the 
same sentence, the repetition is called tautology. Redundant and 
tautological words are said to be superfluous. When redundancy 
is carried to an extreme, in the use of unnecessary words and 
phrases, it is called circumlocution. Circumlocution is sometimes 
spoken of as “ going around Robin Hood’s barn to tell a thing.” 

Redundancy is illustrated by the following sentence: 

They returned back again to the same place from whence they came forth.- 

Tautology is illustrated by the following: 

Public interest in the matter was universal everywhere. 

And the following is a sample of circumlocution: 

Pope professed to have learned liis poetry from Dryden, whom, whenever an 
opportunity was presented, he praised through the whole period of his exist¬ 
ence with unvaried liberality; and perhaps his character may receive some 
illustration if a comparison be instituted between him and the man whose pupil 
he was. 

Professor Bain condenses this sentence thus: 

“ Pope professed himself the pupil of Dryden, who he lost no opportunity in 
praising ; and his character may be illustrated by a comparison with his master.’^ 

Note. —The use of words unnecessary to the sense is sometimes allowable for 
the sake of emphasis; as, “To have and to hold, to love and to cherish.” “O' 
Absalom, my son, my son ! ” “ They worked with might and main.” 

This redundancy of words for effect is most common in poetry. 

Example: Alone, alone, all alone, 

Alone on the wide, wide sea. 

Re-write the following, leaving out all unnecessary words: 

1. The paper was full of a great many valuable suggestions. 

2. The machines are just exactly alike in every respect. 

3. My esteemed and respected hearers, I am aware that this is a seeming" 
paradox. 

4. This is so clear a proposition, that I rest the whole argument entirely 
upon it. 

5. Never did Atticus succeed better in gaining the universal love and esteem 
of all men.— Spectator. 


PLAIN ENGLISH. 


155 


6. The complication of the old laws of France had given rise to a chaos of 
confusion.— Alison. 

7. It was founded mainly on the entire monopoly of the whole trade with 
the colonies.— lb. 

8. The very first discovery of it strikes the mind with inward joy, and 
spreads delight through all its faculties.— Addison. 

9. Of the vegetable productions of foreign countries, there is none of 
greater value, or held in greater estimation, than that of sugar. 

10. I do not trumpet water as an infallible nostrum—as a universal panacea 
for all the ills that human flesh is heir to.— Blackie. 

11. He always communicated his direction with clearness and in the most 
concise terms, yet without obscurity.— Godwin. 

12. The reason why Socrates was condemned to death was on account of his 
unpopularity.— Times. 

13. It is with the most unfeigned and heartfelt gratitude that I appear before 
this enlightened and intelligent audience tonight, to thank them, as I do, for 
the kind and generous sympathy they have manifested and shown in favor of 
the cause of my struggling country. 

290. Long Sentences. —Long sentences, particularly those of 
extreme length, are likely to be obscure. However, obscurity in 
this direction is the result, not so much of putting a large number 
of words into a sentence, as of crowding into the same sentence 
things that have but little connection with each other, and which 
might better be put into separate sentences. 

Example : The vessel made for the shore, and the passengers soon crowded 
into the boats and reached the beach in safety, where the inhabitants received 
them with the utmost kindness, and a shelter was provided for them. 

The thoughts here are much clearer when put into two sen¬ 
tences, thus: 

The vessel made for the shore, and the passengers crowding into the boats 
soon reached the beach in safety. They were received with the utmost kindness 
by the inhabitants who provided a shelter for them. 

Long sentences often result from hanging one relative clause 
upon another, and not unfrequently the effect is ludicrous. 

Example : As we rode to town we met a man with a flock of geese, who was 
talking to a little girl in a pink sun-bonnet, who was carrying a basket on her 
arm, which contained a few eggs which she was taking to market. 


156 


PLAIN ENGLISH. 


This sentence may be cleared of its obscurity and absurdity by 
re-arranging it as follows : 

As we rode to town we met a man with a flock of geese. He was talking to 
a little girl in a pink snn-bonnet. The girl was carrying on her arm a basket 
containing a few eggs, which she was taking to market. 

As to the proper length for sentences, no rule can be given. It is not always 
possible to make our sentences short; nor would it be advisable to do so if we 
could. When several short sentences occur together, they have, by reason of 
the frequent full stops at periods, an unpleasant effect on the mind of the 
reader or listener. The best way is to have a mixture of short and long sen¬ 
tences,—the short ones predominating, and the long ones not too long to be 
clear. Macaulay’s sentences are models in this respect, and young writers 
would do well to give considerable time to the study of his writings. The fol¬ 
lowing extracts from an essay on the trial of Warren Hastings illustrate 
Macaulay’s style: 

The place was worthy of such a trial. It was the great hall of William Rufus ; the hall 
which had resounded with the inauguration of thirty kings ; the hall which had witnessed the 
just sentence of Bacon and the just absolution of Somers; the hall where the eloquence of 
Strafford had for a moment awed and melted a victorious party inflamed with just resentment; 
the hall where Charles had confronted the High Court of Justice with the placid courage which 
has half redeemed his fame. Neither military nor civil pomp was wanting. The avenues were 
lined with grenadiers. The streets were kept clear by cavalry. The peers, robed in gold and 
ermine, were marshalled by the heralds under Garter-King-at-Arms. The judges, in their 
vestments of state, attended to give advice on points of law. 

The Sergeants made proclamation. Hastings advanced to the bar, and bent his knee. The 
culprit was indeed not unworthy of that great presence. He had ruled an extensive and popu¬ 
lous country, had made laws and treaties, had sent forth armies, had set up and pulled down 
princes. And in his high place he had so borne himself, that all had feared him, that most had 
loved him, and that hatred itself could deny him no title to glory, except virtue. He looked 
like a great man, and not like a bad man. 

291. Misused Words.—An eminent writer has said: “In 
speaking or writing English, we have only to choose the right 
word and put it in the right place.” We have seen that the right 
word in the wrong place may make the sentence ambiguous or 
cause it to say what the writer does not intend. Now the right 
word is often as important as the right place; for obscurity may 
be caused by using the wrong word in the right place. To 
illustrate this, take the word want , so commonly misused in the 
sense of ought or needs. Thus— 

George wants to leave liis work for a while and take a rest. 

In this sentence, wants expresses a desire on George’s part, whereas the 
writer meant, “George ought (or needs) to leave his work”—etc. And so 


“ You want to behave,” “ They want to come pretty soon,’' “ He wants to mind 
his own business,” are either ludicrous or ambiguous in meaning. 

292. Big Words .—Most of the errors in the use of words result from a 
very common disposition to use “ big words for little ideas ; ” to use fine-sound¬ 
ing terms regardless, of their meaning. Persons who are self-conscious about 
their language, and those who effect to know more than they do, are especially 
liable to fall into this habit. They have an erroneous notion that big words 
sound learned, when, in reality, the opposite is true. With such a person, a 
hired girl is not a servant but a “ domestic ; ” a school is an “ institution ; ” an 
oyster is a “ bivalve; ” a person does not recover his health but “ recuperates ; 
and so forth. A woman who has this false idea of elegance in language does 
not tell us she is sorry she cannot come to see us, but she “ regrets that the 
multiplicity of her engagements precludes her from accepting our polite invi¬ 
tation.” If the persons who talk in this way could but know how ridiculous 
they often make themselves, their knowledge of the fact might lead them to- 
talk as sensible people ought. \ 

The importance of using plain English words is illustrated by the following 
story of Benjamin Franklin : 

“ When Franklin was a boy he thought it fine to use long words, and one day told his father 
that he had swallowed some acephalous molluscs^ which so alarmed him that he shrieked for 
help. The mother came in with warm water, and they forced half-a-gallon down Benjamin’s 
throat with the garden pump, then held him upside down, the father saying, “ If we don’t get 
those things out of Benny, he’ll be poisoned sure.” When Benjamin was allowed to get his 
breath, he explained that the articles referred to were oysters. His father was so enraged that 
he beat him an hour for frightening the family. Franklin never afterward used a word of two 
syllables when one would do.” 

Newspapers are the worst offenders in the matter of using high-sounding 
terms. A fifth-rate newspaper seems incapable of telling us in plain English 
that persons go to their homes, but must say that “ individuals proceed to their 
residences ; ” houses are not burned, but “ edifices are consumed by the devour¬ 
ing element;” the fire was not put out, but the “conflagration was extin¬ 
guished ; ” murderers are not hung, but the “ victims of unbridled passions are 
launched into eternity; ” a firm does not adopt a new method of handling the 
details of its business, but it “ inaugurates a new regime for transacting the 
multifarious minutiae of the enterprise.” 

The Twenty-third Psalm (than which there is no better example of pure arid 
simple English) translated into this inflated newspaper style would read as 
follows : 

“Jehovah is my pastor; I shall not be indigent. He constraineth me to re¬ 
cline in verdant fields; he conducteth me in proximity to the unrippled 
liquidities.” 

293. Cant. —Swift says: “ To introduce and multiply cant words is the 
most ruinous corruption in any language.” 


158 


PLAIN ENGLISH. 


Cant is the use of words and phrases by the people of a sect, trade, or profession, in a man- 
tier peculiar to themselves. It includes the use of words in a way so different from their com¬ 
mon and general usage that to a person outside the business or profession in which they are so 
used they sound absurd and may obscure the meaning. The habit of using cant expressions is 
one into which we are all more or less liable to fall. Through the newspapers, the cant of the 
various trades and professions receives a wide circulation and a tacit sanction. Through them, 
also, too much of the slang of the sporting world and the stage is put into the mouths of those 
who at best are not very particular about their speech. Persons who, ordinarily, are careful 
about their language, see and hear these cant and slang expressions until they begin almost 
unconsciously to adopt them. 

The following are common cant expressions in the commercial world of today: 

Line. “ We have the finest line of winter goods ever seen in this city.” 

Closing Out. “ We are closing out our entire stock at rock-bottom prices.” 

Please find. “Please find enclosed our check for the balance due you.” 

We beg. “ We beg to acknowledge the receipt of your favor of the 19th inst.” 

A very, common sort of cant is the use of descriptive adjectives as nouns. 
The grocery-keeper offers us “ Jersey sweets at 25 cents a peck,” by which he 
means ‘Jersey sweet potatoes,’ not molasses, sugar, and candy. The dry-goods 
merchant advertises his “ domestics ” at so much a yard, meaning ‘ domestic 
goods,’ not his servants. 

‘294. Punctuation. —As a rule, we should not depend upon 
marks of punctuation to make our meaning clear, but should aim 
to secure clearness independent of these mechanical aids. How¬ 
ever, in many cases, correct punctuation will help to make clear 
an otherwise obscure sentence, while incorrect punctuation may 
not only cause obscurity but in many instances give an absurd or 
erroneous interpretation to the language. For illustrations on 
this point, see page 176 . 

295. Brevity.—In the preceding paragraphs, Clearness and 
Force have been studied negatively; that is, we have considered 
those things which cause obscurity and which must be avoided 
to get clearness. Under the head of Brevity, we shall study the 
positive side of the subject. 

Brevity is not merely an absence of circumlocution; it is the opposite of 
circumlocution. To leave off all redundant words is only comparative brevity. 
Absolute brevity goes farther than that. A sentence in which there are no 
really redundant words may be abbreviated and thus made more forcible with¬ 
out losing any of its clearness. This abbreviation is accomplished in two 
ways : 1. By ellipsis ; 2. By abridgment. 


PLAIN ENGLISH. 


159 


296 . Ellipsis. —Ellipsis is the omission of such words as will 
he clearly understood and which must be supplied when it comes 
to analyzing the sentence. The following are the more common 
ways of shortening sentences by ellipsis: 

1. Omitting the conjunctions from a series of words, phrases, or clauses, of 
the same kind. Thus, “I came, I saw, I conquered,” is just as clear and far 
more forcible than “ I came, and I saw, and I conquered.” 

[For further examples, and for punctuation, see Rule 2 for the comma, 393. ] 

2. By omitting the subject from each, except the first, of a series of assertions 
about the same person or thing, at the same time omitting the conjunctions. 

Examples: Charles went to Washington, transacted the business for his 
father, visited the Capitol, White House, and other places of interest, and re¬ 
turned within the week. 

3. By omitting the verb from each, except the first, of a series of co-ordinate 
clauses in which the same verb is used. 

Examples: Youth looks forward; age, backward. 

Reading makes a full man ; conference, a ready man; writing, an exact man. 

[ For further examples, and punctuation, see Rule 4 for use of comma, 305. ] 

297 . Abridgment. — Abridgment consists in using a short 
expression as the equivalent of a longer one. The principal 
ways in which sentences are shortened by abridgment are: 

1. By using single words instead of phrases. 

[For examples, see paragraphs 26 and 118. ] 

2. By reducing clauses to single words or phrases. 

Examples: He is a man whom people can trust—‘ He is a trustworthy man.’ 

A man who has no hope is like a ship without an anchor—‘ A man without 
hope is like ’—etc. 

3. By using an infinitive instead of a phrase or a clause. 

Examples: I came for the purpose of learning what I could about it—‘ I 
came to learn what I could about it.’ 

All he seems to care for is that he may become rich—‘ All he seems to care 
for is to become rich.’ 

Note .— When a noun clause used as an object is thus abridged, its subject becomes the in¬ 
complete object of the principal clause, and the infinitive becomes the object complement (222.) 

Example : They requested that he should hand in his resignation — 1 They requested him to 
hand in his resignation.’ 

4. By reducing a subordinate clause to an imperative co-ordinate clause. 

Example: If you are patient, you will succeed—* Be patient, and you will 

succeed.’ 


160 


PLAIN ENGLISH. 


5. By using a participle in the place of the subject and predicate of a 
subordinate clause. 

Example : Those who live in glass houses should not throw stones—‘ Those 
living in glass houses should not throw stones.’ 

When we had finished our task,we returned to the city—‘ Having finished ’—etc. 

While we were standing on the hill, we could see the enemy in the distance 
—‘ Standing on the hill, we could see the enemy in the distance.’ 

Note— The last example is a faulty contraction, since there is danger of its being construed 
to mean that the enemy was standing on the hill. Participial constructions are especially liable 
to such ambiguity, and for this reason their use in abridgment requires extra care to prevent 
obscurity. 

6. By reducing adverbial clauses to attendant elements. [ See 214 and 215. ] 

Example: Because the weather was bad, the audience w^as small—' The 
weather being bad, the audience was small.’ 

7. A noun clause introduced by that may be abridged to a participle and 
its adjuncts, one of the adjuncts being the possessive form of the subject of the 
abridged clause. 

Examples: That he is honest is doubted by no one—‘ His being honest,’ etc. 

I was not aware that it was he—‘ I was not aware of its being he.’ 

Caution.— Horace says: “While I take pains to be brief, I fall into 
obscurity.” 

“ ^ is best, at all events, for beginners, not to aim so much at being brief, or 
forcible, as at being perfectly clear. Forcible style springs from vividness and 
exactness of thought, and from a corresponding vividness and exactness in the 
use of words. When you are describing anything, endeavor to see it and de¬ 
scribe it as you see it. Exactness in the use of words requires an exact knowd- 
edge of their meanings and differences.”—//bay to Write Clearly . 

298. Choice of Words. “The right word in the right place ” 
implies something more than not using the wrong word. It im¬ 
plies a careful choice between words usually regarded as synonyms 
but which are not so. In reality, there are but few absolute 
synonyms, almost none, in our language. Each word has some 
shade of meaning which cannot be exactly expressed by any 
other word. 

To the Teacher.— It would be well to have students devote a lesson or two to the 
writing of sentences that will illustrate the difference between such words as symptoms and in¬ 
dications ; enough and sufficient; defective and deficient; speed, rapidity , and velocity; and other 
words so commonly misused because they are supposed to be synonyms. Another good exercise 
in connection with the work of this chapter is to have students bring in errors which they 
may find in newspapers, magazines, or books. There is scarcely a daily or weekly paper but 
will furnish^evera^examples of redundancy, or faulty arrangement, many of them as ridiculous 
as those given in paragraphs 287 and 289. ■ 


PLAIN ENGLISH. 


161 


HINTS TO YOUNG WRITERS AND SPEAKERS. 

299. The following extracts from the pens of those competent 
to speak on the subject are given here for the benefit of the inex¬ 
perienced. Others, however, may find in them some valuable 
suggestions. 

If you hear poor English and read poor English, you will pretty surely 
speak poor English, and write poor English.— White. 

In the commerce of speech use only coin of gold and silver. ... Be 
profound with clear terms, and not with obscure terms.— -Joubert. 

Never be grandiloquent when you want to drive home a searching truth. 
Don’t whip with a switch that has the leaves on, if you want to tingle.—//. W. 
Beecher. 

I observe that all distinguished poetry is written in the oldest and simplest 
English words. There is a point, above coarseness and below refinement, 
where propriety abides.— Emerson. 

When you doubt between words, use the plainest, the commonest, the most 
idiomatic. Eschew fine words as you would rouge; love simple ones as you 
would native roses on your cheek.— Hare. 

Altogether the style of a writer is a faithful representative of his mind; 
therefore, if any man wishes to write a clear style, let him first be clear in his 
thoughts ; and if he would write in a noble style, let him first possess a noble 
soul.— Goethe. 

Whatever you have to say, my friend, whether witty, or grave, or gay, 
Condense as much as ever you can, and say in the readiest way ; 

And whether you’re writing on rural affairs or particular things in town, 

Just take a word of friendly advice, boil it down. — Anon. 

Never use a word simply because it sounds well, unless it says what you 
wish to say. Take nothing for granted in the meaning of words. It often 
happens that careless writers transfer words from books of reference into their 
own writing without carefully ascertaining what the words mean.— H. L. Keeler. 

Be simple, be unaffected, be honest in your speaking and writing. Never 
use a long word where a short one will do. Call a spade a spade , not a well- 
known oblong instrument of manual husbandry; ’ let home be home , not a 
residence; a place a place, not a locality ; and so of the rest. Where a short 
word will do, you always lose by using a long one. You lose in clearness ; you 
lose in honest expression of your meaning; and, in the estimation of all men 
who are qualified to judge, you lose in reputation for ability. Dean Alford. 


i 


162 


PLAIN ENGLISH. 


Our diction is the expression of our minds. The thought is father to the 
word. Nothing, therefore, in discourse can take the place of close, consecutive 
thinking. A writer’s diction will be good up to the measure of his thought. 
Beyond this, all is mere verbiage. It may astonish the rustic but cannot deceive 
the intelligent. Mere verbal power is one thing. Mental power transmitted 
through appropriate language is another. True expression is the expression of 
thought.— T. W. Hunt. 

In language, as in the fine arts, there is but one way to attain to excellence, 
and that is by study of the most faultless models. As the air and manner of a 
gentleman can be acquired only byTiving constantly in good society, so grace 
and purity of expression must be attained by a familiar acquaintance with the 
standard authors. It is astonishing how rapidly we may by this practice enrich 
our vocabularies, and how speedily we imitate and unconsciously reproduce in 
our language the niceties and delicacies of expression which have charmed us 
in a favorite author.— William Mathews. 

Simple and unpretending ignorance is always respectable, and sometimes 
charming; but there is little that more deserves contempt than the pretence of 
ignorance to knowledge. The curse and the peril of language in this day, and 
particularly in this country, is, that it is at the mercy of men who, instead of 
being conten -to use it well according to their honest ignorance, use it ill ac¬ 
cording to their affected knowledge ; who, being vulgar, would seem elegant; 
who, being empty, would seem full; who make up in pretence what they lack 
in reality; and whose little thoughts, let off in enormous phrases, sound like 
fire-crackers in an empty barrel .—Richard Grant White. 

As a rule, employ no French or other foreign words. To many good people 
they are unintelligible or unpronounceable ; and unless your knowledge be very 
accurate there is a chance of their being incorrect. They are in bad taste and 
wholly out of tune; and, moreover, the chances are a thousand to one that 
there are words enough in English to tell more than you know. Do not clothe 
little thoughts in big words. The effect is less disagreeable when the words 
seem unequal to the weight of sense they have to bear. Do not “inaugurate” 
a new style of shearing your “ phenomenal ” poodle. 

The habitual and appreciative reading of good authors will influence your 
style without your thinking of it. Having a stock of words acquired by read¬ 
ing and having mastered your subject as a whole and in its details, tell your 
story in your own words and in your own way without any thought about style 
or fine writing. If time be allowed you, lay aside your manuscript until you 
have in a manner forgotten it and can see it with something like the eyes of a 
stranger. Then go over it carefully, strike out every word that can be spared, 
change every word and every sentence that can be changed for the better, and 
leave the rest unaltered .—Samuel Ramsey. 



PLAIN ENGLISH. 


163 


PUNCTUATION. 


300. Punctuation, from the Latin punctum (‘point’), is the 
art of pointing off printed or written language so as to make 
its meaning plain. 

Remarks—In this work, the aim has been to give only those rules that will 
be found of practical every-day use. The frequency of the comma as a mark of 
punctuation, and the variety of its uses, make it advisable to formulate a series 
of rules under which those uses may be grouped. These rules are supple¬ 
mented by examples and a sufficient number of sentences for practice to fix the 
rule more firmly in the student’s mind. 

The uses of the other marks of punctuation are so few and simple that formal 
rules are not given for them, their most common uses being merely stated in a 
specific way. 


MARKS USED IN PUNCTUATING. 


Colon (:) 

Period (.) 

Interrogation (?) 
Exclamation (!) 
Quotation Marks ( " " ) 


Comma (,) 

Marks of Parenthesis ( ) 
Dash (—) 

Brackets [ ] 

Semicolon (;) 


301. The comma indicates the slightest degree of separation 
between the parts of a sentence. 

302. RULE 1.— Introductory words, attendant elements, inter¬ 
mediate expressions, and parenthetical words and phrases, should 
be separated from the rest of the sentence by commas. 

Note /._With the “ introductory words ” may be classed those words that are “ independent 

by direct address ” (see 206 a and b ); also such words as yes, no, first, second, therefore, how¬ 
ever ,when used merely to introduce a statement. Of the introductory words (paragraph 207), 
that, it, and there ( 6 ), and the introductory conjunctions (c), do not come under this rule. 

Note 2 —Attendant elements .-These have been fully explained under the head of “ absolute 
constructions,” pages 89 and 90. The examples given in paragraphs 214 and 216, and the sen¬ 
tences in paragraph 215, fully illustrate this part of the rule. 

(a) When the pleonastic use of a word is more formal, being used as a title or as the sub¬ 
ject of a discourse, it is followed by the colon ; as, “ Heaven : What is It and Where is It ? ” 

Note , —parenthetical words and phrases are those not essential to the meaning of the sen¬ 
tence in which they stand. Examples : “ I will, however, keep the matter in mind.” » We are, 
in fact, only beginning to feel its effects upon our business.” 

The following list contains those words and phrases most commonly used in a parenthetical 


164 


PLAIN ENGLISH. 


way: Therefore, then, however, perhaps, namely, indeed, too, surely, finally, moreover, accord¬ 
ingly, nevertheless, in short, in fact, in fine, in truth, in reality, in brief, in a word, so to speak, 
no doubt, to be brief, to be sure, after all, of course, in the first place, in the second place, etc. 

Note 4.—Intermediate expressions are clauses and expressions not exactly parenthetical in 
character, yet so placed as to come between some of the essential parts of a sentence, as for 
instance, between the subject and predicate. Example: “Truth, like gold, shines brighter by 
collision.” Under this head may be placed those constructions known as “ nouns in apposi¬ 
tion,” or “explanatory modifiers,” which, together with their modifiers, should be 
separated from the rest of the sentence by commas ; as, “ Paul, the great apostle, was a man of 
energy.” When the noun in apposition is unmodified or closely connected, no comma is 
required; as, “ Paul the apostle preached to the Gentiles.” Titles following names are apposi- 
tive and should be separated from the name, and (incase of more than one title) from each 
other by commas ; as, James Hills, Esq. ; Rev. Noah Porter, D. D., EE. D. [See pp. 87-8.] 

SENTENCES FOR PRACTICE.* 

1. No I am not prepared to do so. 2. Again we often hear men say that they 
will not believe what they cannot understand. 3. Why this is all wrong. 
4. Mr. President I rise to a point of order. 5. My dear sir you are in error about 
this matter. 6. We trust however that you may yet see it in a different light. 
7. They were indeed better than we expected. 8. He will not therefore consent 
to the change of time. 9. Consequently it will not do to present the matter in 
that meeting. 10. They are in fact only waiting for a favorable opportunity. 
11. After all it is possible that you may be wrong. 12. Just now as it happens 
we are out of them. 13. Secondly let us proceed to prove it from his own 
admission. 14. To be sure we have only his word for it. 15. Education rightly 
applied will bring success and honor. 16. A man of great wealth may for want 
of education and refinement of manner become a mere cipher in society. 

17. Business education to use a figure is the golden key to business success. 

18. Charity on whatever side we contemplate it is one of the highest Christian 
graces. 19. The reader should however as he proceeds from sentence to sen¬ 
tence make a note of whatever strikes his attention. 20. Then came Jesus the 
doors being shut and stood in the midst. 21. Victoria the Queen of England is 
very wealthy. 22. We the people of the United States do hereby ordain and 
establish this constitution. 

303. RULE 2.—Words, phrases, and clauses, forming a series and 
having the same construction, should be separated from each other 
by commas, unless all the conjunctions are given. 

This rule has a variety of applications which, for convenience, may be exam¬ 
ined under the following heads : 

1. Words. —Words forming a series admit four cases, as follows : 

(a) When a conjunction is used between each two of the words, no commas 


* To tlie Treacher.— Do not allow students to mark the punctuations in their books. 



PLAIN ENGLISH. 


165 


■■are; .required ; as, “ Industry and honesty and temperance and frugality are among 
the cardinal virtues.” 

[b ) When all the conjunctions but the last are omitted, a comma should be 
placed after each of the words excepting the last one ; as, “ Industry,’honesty, 
temperance, and frugality are among the cardinal virtues.” 

( c) All the conjunctions may be omitted, in which case a comma should be 
placed after the last word in the series, to separate it from what follows; as, 
“ Industry, honesty, temperance, frugality, are among the cardinal virtues.” 

( d) When there are an even number of words, four or more, each alternate 
conjunction may be omitted, leaving the words in pairs; as, “ Industry and 
honesty, temperance and frugality, are among the cardinal virtues.” 

2. Modified Words and Phrases. —Expressions consisting of phrases 
or principal words and their modifiers, when forming a series, admit the four 
cases given above for single words. 

Examples: Pure thoughts, good deeds, and noble aspirations elevate a man. Eove for 
study, a desire to do right, and carefulness in choosing our companions are important traits of 
•character. 

3. Co-ordinate Clauses. —Simple co-ordinate members of a compound 
sentence, closely connected in thought, admit cases ( b ) and (^) for words , 
and should be punctuated according^. However, two simple sentences con¬ 
nected by a co-ordinate conjunction are separated by a comma, unless they are 
very short and closely connected in thought. 

Example: Speak as you mean, do as you profess, [and] perform what you promise. [For 
further examples, see paragraph 50; also exercise 18, page 22, and the compound sentences in 
paragraph 95. ] 


SENTENCES FOR PRACTICE. 

1. They have been prompt honest and generous in all their dealings with us. 
2. She writes an easy strong legible hand. 3. Apples pears grapes bananas and 
oranges have an upward tendency in the market. 4. He was brave pious patri¬ 
otic in all his aspirations. 5. Infinite space endless numbers and eternal dura¬ 
tion fill the mind with great ideas. 6. Sickness and suffering sorrow and despair 
poverty and crime are fruits of intemperance. [Write in four days according 
to cases a , b, c, and d, Rule 2. ] 7. Crafty men contemn studies simple men 

admire them wise men use them. 8. The frost had set in the low damp ground 
was hard the dykes were frozen. 9. Modern engineering spans whole continents 
tunnels mountains and rivers and dykes out old ocean himself. 10. Trifles 
make perfection and perfection is no trifle. 11. It is a useful accomplishment 
to be able to read write spell or cipher with accuracy. [Write this sentence in 
the four forms mentioned under Rule 2.] 12. Did God create for the poor a 

coarser earth a thinner air a paler sky? 13. To cleanse our opinions from false- 


166 


PLAIN ENGLISH. 


hood our hearts from malignity and our actions from vice is our chief concern. 
14. Bating or drinking laboring or sleeping let us do all in moderation. 15. To 
have and to hold for better for worse for richer for poorer in sickness and in 
health to love and to cherish. 

304. RULE 3.—Inverted phrases and clauses, and phrases and 
clauses not closely connected with the words they modify, should be 
separated from the rest of the sentence by commas. 

Note 1 .—An “inverted” phrase or clause is one that stands at the beginning’of a sentence 
instead of following the word it modifies; thus, “To supply the deficiency, he resorted to a 
shameful trick.” In this sentence, To supply the deficiency modifies “ trick,” and if it followed 
that word, no comma would be required. 

All sentences beginning with subordinate conjunctions contain inverted clauses. The most 
common are those beginning with if or when ; as, “ If you are in a hurry, you need not wait for 
us.” “ When a man ceases to go up, he begins to go down.” 

Note 2. —It is not always possible to place phrases and clauses next the words they limit, for 
the reason that two or more phrases or clauses may modify the same word. Phrases and clauses 
that are thus separated from their antecedent words should be preceded by the comma. When 
a phrase or a clause is the antecedent of a relative pronoun, the relative should be preceded by 
a comma. [ For examples, see 82 c. ] 

SENTENCES FOR PRACTICE. 

1. Of all our seuses sight is the most important. 2. In reply to your letter I 
wish to say that it is contrary to our rules, etc. 3. In answer to your inquiry we 
are pleased to inform you that the note was duly settled. 4. In view of these 
facts we shall not advise you to return. 5. When you have completed your work 
there come and see us. 6. If you are not satisfied with your present position 
you are at liberty to resign and go elsewhere. 7. If you would succeed in busi¬ 
ness be punctual in observing your engagements. 8. If you wish a consign¬ 
ment of these goods telegraph us immediately. 9. Hoping to hear from you 
soon I remain yours truly. 10. Please telegraph me on receipt of this letter 
saying when they will be ready to ship. 

305. RULE 4.—The omission of the verb in a sentence or clause 
should, be indicated by a comma. 

Note. —This omission of the verb is what is known as “ellipsis,” and may occur in two 
ways: 1. For emphasis, or mere rhetorical effect in short sentences; 2. By giving it in the 
first of a series of brief sentences and omitting it in the rest of them to avoid repetition. 

England's friend, Ireland’s foe. (Meaning, “ England’s friend is Ireland’s foe.” ) 

Reading maketh a full man ; conference, a ready man ; writing, an exact man. 


SENTENCES FOR PRACTICE. 

1. The wise man seeks to shine in himself; a fool to outshine others. 2. 
Curiosity allures the wise ; vanity the foolish; and pleasure both. 3. The first 
ingredient in conversation is truth ; the next good sense; the third good humor ; 


PLAIN ENGLISH . 


167 


and the fourth wit. 4. The poor man is rich with contentment; the rich man 
poor without it. 5. Leisure without learning is death; idleness the grave of 
the living man. 

306 . RULE 5.—In dating, addressing, and directing letters, if 
two or more items occupy the same line, they should be separated 
from each other by commas. 

This rule is illustrated by the following models: 



Note /.—The “ items ” in the date line are: 1. Post-office; 2. County (if the place is small); 
3. State ; 4. Month and day ; 5. Year. When one of these items is abbreviated (as is often the 
case with the State and month), both a period and a comma should be used, the former for the 
abbreviation and the latter because it belongs there when the word is written in full. 



Note 2 .—The place occupied by “ Fairfield Co.” in the model given above is used for the street 
address in directing letters to persons in large cities ; also for the post-office box number, or 
for the name of the person to whose care the letter is directed. 

[ The teacher will furnish the material for practice under this rule. ] 

307 . RULE 6.—Short quotations should be preceded by a comma. 

* Example : His last words were, “ Don’t give up the ship.” 








168 


PLAIN ENGLISH. 


SENTENCES FOR PRACTICE. 

I. He remarked “ I fear it is true.” 2. There is a great deal of truth in the 
saying “Pretty is as pretty does.” 3. Dr. Johnson says “lean abstain but I 
can’t be temperate.” 4. Their watchword was “Taxation without representa¬ 
tion is tyranny.” 

[ For punctuation in case of extended quotations, or quotations introduced 
in a formal way, see Rule 4 for use of colon, 313. ] 

308. RULE 7 .—Commas are used to separate the figures of large 
numbers into periods of three figures each. 

Examples: $36,578; 9,235,768; 13,475,629; $3,563,847.91. 

/ ^ . 
MISCELLANEOUS EXERCISES FOR PRACTICE. 

Punctuate the following; 

1. There is much in the proverb “Without pains no gains.” 2. Each colony 
at the end of King Philip’s war found itself weak from the loss of men. 3. Char¬ 
acter the glor}’- of all great men is the best part of everyone. 4. The third presi¬ 
dent was Thomas Jefferson the writer of the Declaration of Independence. 5. A 
man once hated is not easily raised again to honor. 6. John Bright said of boys 
“ Teach them arithmetic thoroughly and they are made men.” 7. Many are the 
valuable purposes framed which end only in words. 8. Mothers create the 
moral atmosphere of their homes which is the nutriment of man’s moral b^ing. 
9. Some books are to be tasted ; others to be swallowed. 10. What one die6 for 
not his dying glorifies him. ir. What it is our duty to do we must do notj be¬ 
cause anyone can force it from us but because it is right. 12. To confess the 
truth I was to blame. 13. Mr. Chairman the subject shall receive immediate at¬ 
tention. 14. No State shall without the consent of Congress lay any imposts or 
duties on imports or exports. 15. He has lost wealth home and friends. 
16. Trifles make perfection and perfection is no trifle. 

Remark.—Their use being similar to the parenthetical use of the corfima, 
the Dash, Marks of Parenthesis, and Brackets are introduced at this point.! 

309. The dash. —Dashes are used— 

! 

1. When the parenthetical expression has not as close connection with the 
rest of the sentence as would be indicated by commas ; as— 

The statement may be true—I am not prepared to dispute it—that he is guilty. 

2. When there is a sudden break or transition in the thought; as— 

In the next place—but I will not discuss the matter further. 

3. To mark the omission of letters or figures; as— 

Mrs. W-n. The city of C-d. Matthew ix: 1-14. Pages 48-52. 1776-791 


PLAIN ENGLISH. 


169 


4. After as, namely , etc., when the enumeration or statement thus introduced 
begins on the next line ; also to separate the name of an author from an extract 
from his writings; as— 

The man that blushes is not quite a brute.— Young. 

Remark—Many persons, being ignorant of the rules for punctuating, make a weak effort 
to conceal their ignorance by throwing dashes into their writing in an indiscriminate way. 
This habit is to be condemned, and young writers, particularly, should guard against it. 

310. Marks of parenthesis are used to enclose explanatory 
words, or when the parenthetical part has little or no connection 
with the rest of the sentence. 

Note.— 1 ' If a point would be required between the parts of a sentence, in case no parenthesis 
were there, then, when the parenthesis is inserted, said point should be inserted also, and 
should be placed after the second mark of parenthesis ; as, ‘ Pride, in some disguise or other, is 
the most ordinary spring of action.’ ‘ Pride, in some disguise or other (often a secret to the 
proud man himself), is the most ordinary spring of action.’ If the parenthetical part requires, 
at the end, a point of its own, this point should come inside of the last mark of parenthesis, 
and the point belonging to the main sentence should come before the first mark of parenthesis ; 
as,‘While the Christian desires the approbation of his fellow-men, (and why should he not 
desire it?) he disdains to obtain their good-will by dishonorable means.’ ‘Say not in thine 
heart, ‘ Who shall ascend into heaven ? (that is to bring Christ down from above;) or, who shall 
descend into the deep ? (that is to bring up Christ again from the dead;) but what saith it ? ’ ” 
f This applies to points used in connection with the dash and brackets. ]— Hart's Rhetoric. 

( a ) One frequent use of the marks of parenthesis is to enclose figures and 
letters referring to a note, rule, paragraph, section, remark, or page, to which 
attention is called. For examples, see almost any page of this book. 

( b ) Marks of parenthesis are used to enclose an amount or number in 
figures, when it is also written in words. 

Examples: Ship us twenty (20) bushels of apples by freight. Enclosed 
find twenty dollars ( $20 ) to apply on account. 

311. Brackets are similar to marks of parenthesis, but are 
restricted in their use to enclose matter that is independent of 
the sentence in which it occurs ; such as interpolations, notes, 
corrections, or explanations, made by authors in quoting from 
others, and by editors, when they introduce words of their own 
into matter furnished by contributors. 

312. A semicolon should be used— 

1. Just before such words as namely, as, thus, viz., i. e., introducing an 
illustration or enumeration. 

Example : The word “ knowledge,” strictly employed, implies three things; 
namely, truth, proof, and conviction. 


170 


<? 


PLAIN ENGLISH. 

When the words following one of these expressions are thrown into the 
body of a sentence, in a parenthetical way, no semicolon is required. [See 
Note 3, Rule i, for comma.] 

2. After each item in a series of specific statements ; as, for instance, a 
list of articles where prices or qualifying expressions are used; names of 
authors or their works; dates or any list of numbers intended to be taken 
separately. 

Example: We quote prices as follows : • No. 2, $i.oo ; fair to medium, 90 cts.; 
No. 3, dull at 80 cts.; poorer grades not in demand. 

3. To separate closely connected simple sentences when the conjunction is 
omitted, and to separate the members of compound sentences when one or 
more of the members contain commas, especially when the commas indicate the 
omission of the verb. 

[The rule itself furnishes one illustration. For further examples, see exer¬ 
cises 19, 20, and 21, page 22, and the second example under Rule 5, for the 
comma, 306. See, also, the quotation from Max Mueller, p. 96.] 

SENTENCES FOR PRACTICE. 

1. Greece has given us three historians, namely Herodotus Xenophon and 
Thucydides. 2. We have on hand several copies of the following works which 
we offer cheap: Laws of Business Parsons The Conflict of Laws 2 Vol Story 
Blackstone’s Commentaries. 3. Our annual out-put has been as follows: in 1888 
23000 1889 32000 1890 38000 1891 47500. 4. We wish to call your attention to the 

following prices of our machines : No 1 $75 No 2 $82 No 3 $87.50. 5. Piety is the 

best profession honesty the best policy vice its own punishment virtue its own 
reward. 

313. The colon should be used— 

1. Between figures designating hours and minutes ; as, 9:10 A. M.; 7:45 P. M. 

2. After the salutation at the beginning of a letter; as, Sir:, Gentlemen: 
In such cases, it is often followed by a dash. 

3. Before an enumeration of articles or parts introduced by such expres¬ 
sions as “the following” “as follows” (or ‘ as follow’); also after the word 
“ Example,” when capitalized. 

4. After a formal introduction to a speech, or lengthy quotation; as, His 

reply was this: “ America has millions for defense, but not one cent for tribute.” 

Note. —Formerly the colon was used in the following ways : 1. To separate closely con¬ 
nected sentences ; 2. To separate from a sentence, complete in itself, an additional clause of 
inference or explanation, the connecting word (usually for , but. or yet) being omitted; as,— 
Apply yourself to study [ for ] : it will redound to your honor. 3. To divide long sentences whose 



PLAIN ENGLISH . 


171 


members themselves were separated by semicolons. T For examples of first and third uses, see 
*1 weuty-third Psalm, page 98-] These uses of the colon are not regarded now, except by very 
careful writers in the higher types of literature. In ordinary writing, the semicolon has taken 
the place of the colon in the first and second uses mentioned above (the connecting word being 
used); while the period has taken its place in the third, making two sentences instead of one. 


SENTENCES FOR PRACTICE. 

1. Trains depart as follows 630 AM 1145 AM 410 P M 715 PM and 1050 P M 

2. Dear Madam Sir Miss Brown Dear Friend To whom it may concern 

3. We should be pleased to supply you with any or all of the following 
popular periodicals The Century Harper’s and Scribner’s Monthlies The Arena 
and the North American Review 

4. Please ship us at once by fast freight the following goods 

5. Patrick Henry closed his speech with these words Caesar had his Brutus 
Charles the First his Cromwell and George the Third may profit by their example 

314. The period should be used in the following places: 

1. At the close of all assertive and imperative sentences. 

2. After all abbreviations ; as, Co., Mass., Dr., Mdse., U. S. A. 

3. As a decimal point between dollars and cents, and after the denomina¬ 
tions of Sterling money; as, $4.50; $35,627.89; 15s.; /19. 3s. 4d. 

4. After letters used as numerals, and after figures used to number para¬ 
graphs, notes, remarks, questions, or any list of particulars; as, (IX.), (Rule i.) r 
( See \ 10.), (Remark 3, p. 16.), (p. 4, Vol. 2.) 

5. After headings and titles, and after dates and signatures to letters and 
other documents; also at the close of the address at the beginning of a letter, 
and after the last item in the direction on the envelope or package. 

Punctuate the following: 

1. Cleveland O December 1 1891 Philadelphia Pa Jan 15 1892 

2. Smith Publishing Company No 12 North Prospect St Baltimore McL 
Dr A P Nicholls Medina Medina Co Ohio 

3. I am Yours truly John Smith We are Respectfully Davis, Hunt & Co. 

315. The interrogation is used at the close of direct questions: 

Examples : Can you come to see us ? Will they furnish them at that price ? 

Note /.—An interrogation should be used after an interrogative phrase or clause that is 
repeated in the body of a declarative sentence; as, “The question, ‘ What do we live for ?’ is. 
a solemn one.” [This applies also to the mark of exclamation. ] 


172 


PLAIN ENGLISH. 


Note 2. —Usually, the interrogation is equivalent to a period, but not always. Sometimes 
the interrogative clause occurs in the middle of a sentence, while at other times the sentence 
is composed of a series of questions, so that the interrogation maybe equivalent to a comma or 
semicolon. It is important that the writer should know to what the interrogation is equiva¬ 
lent, as upon this depends whether the next word shall begin with a capital. The way to de¬ 
termine this is to change the questions into affirmative form. If, by doing this, the questions 
are resolved into independent statements, the interrogation is equivalent to a period; but if 
the expressions appear as a series of phrases or clauses, requiring the comma or semicolon for 
their punctuation, the interrogation is equivalent to one or the other of those marks, and the 
next word should not begin with a capital. ' 

Examples: i. Shall a man gain the favor of heaven by impiety? by falsehood? by mur¬ 
der ? by theft ? Affirmatively: A man can not obtain the favor of heaven by impiety, by false¬ 
hood, by murder, by theft. (Equivalent to commas.) 

2. Who will heed his absurd claim? who will be influenced by his misrepresentations ? 
Affirmatively: No one will heed his absurd claim; no one will be influenced by his mis¬ 
representations. ( Equivalent to the semicolon.) 

SENTENCES FOR PRACTICE. 

i. When does he expect to return 2. Are you ready to begin the work 
3. His question “ How are we to prove it ” was not out of place. 4. “ Well what 
are you going to do about it ” was his impertinent question 5. Is she fond of 
music of art of literature and is she self-reliant 6. Can he be so blind to his 
own interests so indifferent to the public welfare 

316. The exclamation is used after words, phrases, or sen¬ 
tences expressing strong emotion. 

Examples: O Absalom! O God! O my child! Alas! I am undone. Oh, 
where shall rest be found! Oh! Where shall rest be found? [ See 323*, Note.\ 

317. Quotation marks are used to show that the words en¬ 
closed by them are the exact words of another writer or speaker. 

[ For examples, see sentences for practice, under Rule 6 for the comma. ] 

Note 1. —When one quotation is contained within another it should be indicated by single 
marks. Should the contained quotation come at the end of the sentence, three apostrophes 
should be used after it. 

Examples : He began by saying, “ The old proverb, * Well begun is half done,’ contains an 
important truth.” The speaker replied, “ In the words of the immortal Eawrence, I would say, 
‘Don’t give up the ship.’ ” 

Note 2.— A period, colon, semicolon, or comma after the last word of a quotation is placed 
before the quotation marks. Other punctuation marks are placed before the quotation marks, 
if they are part of the quotation, and after them if they are used to punctuate the sentence. 

SENTENCES FOR PRACTICE. 

1. In his last moments he uttered these words I fall a sacrifice to wealth and 
luxury. 2. Throwing herself in front of Marie Antoinette Elizabeth exclaimed 


PLAIN ENGLISH. 


m 


I am the queen. 3. My friend said the excited driver you should turn , to the 
right and give me half the road. 4. John B. Gough said Young man keep your 
record clean. 

MISCELLANEOUS EXERCISES TO BE PUNCTUATED. 

1. The greatest truths are the simplest so are the greatest men. 2. The way 
to wealth is as plain as the way to market namely industry and frugality. 3. We 
must however pay some deference to the opinions of the wise however much 
they are contrary to our own. 4. If you would be revenged on your enemies let 
your life be blameless. 5. In giving let your object be the necessitous and the 
deserving your end their help. 6. Honesty is the best policy but he is not an 
honest man that acts on that principle. 7. No one is out of the reach of mis¬ 
fortune no one therefore should glory in his prosperity. 8. Do not insult a poor 
man his misery entitles him to pity. 9. Yes sir it has been attended to. 
10. Vanity and ambition are both wrong the one displays itself in love of show the 
other in love of place. 11. Well many strange things have happened lately. 
12. There is a joy in sorrow which none but the mourner can know. 13. Our 
own productions flatter us it is impossible not to be fond of them at the first 
moment. 14. We have in fine every facility for accomplishing the greatest 
amount of work. 15. Act well at the moment and you have performed a good 
action to all eternity. 16. Was that wonderful instrument the hand made to be 
idle? 17. Character is a mirror which reflects in after life the images first pre¬ 
sented to it. 18. We two gentlemen are interested in an early settlement of 
this question and from our point of view it cannot be settled too soon. 
19. Newton the great mathematician w r as very modest. 20. To speak candidly I 
do not understand the subject. 21. A boy educated at home meets many disap¬ 
pointments on coming into the world. 22. Do not squander time for that is the 
stuff that life is made of. 23. Plutarch truly observes no man can be both ac¬ 
cuser and judge. 24. Good manners are not for state occasions but the natural 
garment for every day. 25. John Quincy Adams’s last words were This is the 
end of life. 26. No one is out of the reach of misfortune no one therefore 
should glory in his prosperity. 27. Nature is contented with little grace with less. 
28. The population of the city of Cleveland in 1810 was 57 in 1850 17034 in 1890 
261708. 29. Vice is infamous though in a prince virtue honorable though in a 

peasant. 30. These three things you will never repent: 1. Rising early to busi¬ 
ness 2. Learning good things 3. Obliging good men. 

OTHER MARKS USED IN WRITING AND PRINTING. 

318. The apostrophe is used— 

1. To mark the omission of a letter or syllable; as, o’er, ne’er, ’tis, they’ll. 

2. To mark the omission of the century in dates ; as, ’89, ’92. 

3. With the s to indicate the plural of a letter, figure, or sign. [ See 131. \ 


174 


PLAIN ENGLISH . 


4. With the s to indicate the possessive form of all nouns, excepting plurals 
that end in s. [ See 135. ] The apostrophe should not be used with the possess¬ 
ive pronouns his, ours, yours, its, etc. 

319. The hyphen is used between the parts of compound 
words, and at the end of a line to indicate that a word is divided. 

It is not always easy to decide whether the hyphen should be 
used to indicate the compounding of two words. The following 
directions are abridged from an article written by a practical 
printer, and published in the National Educator : 

1. When two nouns come together and the second one implies the act of 
containing the first, a hyphen is used to connect them; thus, wood-box, paper- 
box, glass-box, ice-house; when, however, the first noun indicates the material 
of which the second is made, no hyphen should be used; as, wood box, paper 
box, glass box, ice house. Notice the difference between wood-box and wood 
box , etc. 

2. When two adjectives stand before a noun and the first one belongs rather 
to the second than to the noun itself, the hyphen should be used between the 
adjectives; as, red-haired boy, eight-day clocks, ten-cent toys, six-inch wheels. 

The omission of the hyphen from these words changes the meaning to a red 
boy with hair, eight clocks each running one day, ten toys each worth one cent, 
six wheels each one inch in size, etc. 

3. Sometimes two words of the same part-of-speech are connected by the 
word and, the three forming an adjective; thus, up-and-down motion, cut-and- 
slash fury. If the two adjectives qualify the noun equally, no hyphen is neces¬ 
sary. If we speak of a shipping-case, for instance, we use a hyphen, and so in 
retailing-case ; but if both words, “ shipping and retailing,” come before the 
word “ case,” no hyphen should be used; as, shipping and retailing case. 

4. A participial adjective coming before a noun, indicating the general or 

habitual use of the noun, should have a hyphen; as, printing-press, sewing- 
machine. A printing press is a press which is just now printing, but a printing- 
press is used for printing in general, though at this instant it may be perfectly 
still. So with writing machine, writing-machine, &c. [ See 65 s and 279 s . ] 

To the above may be added the following specific statements : 

1. Two numerals expressing a compound number should be united by a 
hyphen ; as, twenty-one, thirty-six, etc. 

2. The word “fold,” when annexed to a numeral of more than one syllable, 
is separated from it by a hyphen; as, twenty-fold, sixty-fold, etc., but if the 
numeral has but one syllable, no hyphen is used ; as, twofold, fourfold. 

3. When fractions are expressed in words instead of figures, a hyphen should 
separate the two parts ; as, one-half, three-fourths, etc. 


PLAIN ENGLISH. 


175 


4* The words “half” and “quarter,” when prefixed to a noun, should be 
separated from it by a hyphen; as, half-dollar, quarter-pound, etc. 

5. Usually, though not always, when two words are compounded, and each 
one retains its original accent, a hyphen should be used; as, snow-shoe, All-wise, 
town-hall; but if the accent of one of the words is dropped, the hyphen should 
be omitted; as, railway, bookkeeper, typewriter. 

In dividing words at the end of a line, care should be taken that the division 
is strictly according to syllables; that is, never write part of a syllable at the 
end of a line and the remainder at the beginning of the next line. Never place 
the first syllable of a word at the end of a line, when that syllable contains 
but one letter; neither should the last syllable, when it consists of but a single 
letter, be placed at the beginning of the next line. This last rule includes final 
syllables of two letters when one of the letters is silent; as, burned , passed. 

WORDS FOR PRACTICE. 

Write the following words and give reasons for using or not using the hyphen, 
as the case may be: coffee pot, type case, shell box, gold pen, silver casket, ten 
cent counters, two dollar hats, rosy cheeked girl, money drawer, hat box, hat 
rack, shaving soap, razor case, book case, well to do farmer, happy go lucky 
fellow, half hearted way, letter box, pen and ink copy, 60 cent gas, water pail, 
out of the way place, walking cane, fruit stand, cake stand, pocket book, letter 
carrier, short hand, good bye, open faced, in door, out put, out going, passer 
by, working men, step son, man of war, oat meal. 

320. The caret is used to mark the omission of a letter, a 
word, or a number of words. The omitted part is generally 
written above and the caret shows where it should be inserted. 
Examples : 

s sent 

It was an omision. I had just A a telegram to him. 

of your firm, 

If it is not contrary to the rules please ship the goods by express, subject 
to inspection. 

Remark.—The examples above fully illustrate the use of the caret, but all 
short manuscripts should be rewritten to supply omissions. 

321. Marks of ellipsis •—Sometimes a long dash (-), or a succes¬ 
sion of stars (* * * * * * *), or of points (.), are used to indi¬ 

cate the omission of a portion of a sentence or discourse. “ Readers ” are a succes¬ 
sion of dots, used to carry the eye to something printed at a greater or less 
distance to the right. 




176 


PLAIN ENGLISH. 


322. Marks of reference are such as the asterisk (*), the dagger (t), 
section (§), parallel lines (||), etc., used to call attention to some note or remark 
in the margin, at the bottom of the page, or end of the chapter. 


IMPORTANCE OP PUNCTUATION. 

The importance of correct punctuation is shown by the follow¬ 
ing illustrations: 

John Quincy Adams once gained a lawsuit involving $50,000, the decision of 
which turned on the position of a comma. 

The Tariff Act passed by the XUIId Congress provided that fruit-plants, and 
certain other commodities, should be admitted free of duty. I11 engrossing or 
printing the Act, a comma, instead of a hyphen, was inserted between fruit and 
plants, consequently/ 4 all fruits,” and “ all plants ” were put upon the “ free list,” 
and this mistake (if mistake it was) cost the United States about $2,000,000. 
A special Act of Congress was necessary to get rid of that comma. 

Sometimes ludicrous mistakes occur by the misplacing or 
omission of punctuation marks. 

A toast at a public dinner was, “ Woman; without her, man would be a 
savage.” The next day it appeared in print, “ Woman, without her man, would 
be a savage.” 

Punctuate the following lines so as to make them express a fact: 

Every lady in the land has twenty nails upon each hand 
Five and twenty on hands and feet this is true without deceit. 

AN EPITAPH—PUNCTUATE TO SUIT. 

He is an old and experienced man in vice and wickedness he is never found 
opposing the words of iniquity he takes delight in the downfall of the neighbors 
he never rejoices in the prosperity of any of his fellow creatures he is always 
ready to assist in destroying the peace of society he takes no pleasure in serving 
the Uord he is uncommonly diligent in sowing discord among his friends and 
acquaintances he takes no pride in laboring to promote the cause of Christianity 
he has not been negligent in endeavoring to stigmatize all public teachers he 
makes no exertions to subdue his evil passions he strives hard to build up 
Satan’s kingdom he lends no aid to the support of the gospel among the heathen 
he contributes largely to the evil adversary he pays no attention to good advice 
he gives great heed to the devil he will never go to heaven he must go where 
he will receive the just recompense of his reward. 


PLAIN ENGLISH. 


177 


CAPITAL LETTERS. 

323. Capital letters should be used— 

1. To begin every sentence and every line of poetry. [Seepp. 96 - 8 .] 

2 . To begin every quotation forming a sentence ; as— 

Pope says, “ Hope dwells eternal in the human breast.” 

3 . To begin all words denoting the Deity, and words meaning 
Heaven ; as— 

Remember thy Creator; Christ; Sou of God; Providence; Paradise. 

Note. It is now customary to capitalize all personal pronouns referring’ to God or the 
Saviour; as, “ Trust in Him and He will give you strength.” 

4 . To write the pronoun I and the interjection O. 

Notc.—O should be used in direct address, and oh in expressions of pain, pleasure, surprise. 
The latter should not be capitalized unless it begins a sentence. [See 3x6, Examples.] 

5 . To begin all proper nouns. This rule includes— 

{a) Names of persons, countries, cities, towns, and streets; as— 

James A. Garfield ; William K. Gladstone ; Canada ; Asia ; Boston ; Chicago ; Main Street ; 
Euclid Avenue. 

( b) Geographical names of oceans, lakes, mountains, rivers, states, counties, 
and regions; as— 

Atlantic Ocean ; Take Erie; Hudson River; Green Mountains; Indiana; Monroe County; 
Pacific Coast; the North of Africa ; Southern Ohio. 

* / 

Note /.—The words north, south, east, and west are capitalized when used to refer to geo¬ 
graphical divisions of the country ; as, “ The East depends upon the West for meats and bread- 
stuffs.” But when these words refer to points of the compass, they are not capitalized ; as, “ He 
lives east of here.” ” It happened four miles north of this place.” 

Note 2— In geographical names, composed of proper and common nouns, such as “New 
York city,” “ Ohio river,” only the first part should be capitalized, ( unless the name is used in 
directing letters, etc.,) because it may be used alone. But in such names as “ Jersey City,” 
“ White Mountains,” both must begin with capitals, because both are parts of the name. 

Note3 .—The words state and territory; when they refer to divisions of the United States, 
should be capitalized; as, “lie is a resident of this State.” “He was the first governor of 
Idaho Territory.” [But not in “church and state,” “state affairs,” “ state rights,” “Mexico 
ceded a large territory (tract) to the United .States.” “ They erected a house within their own 
territory.” ] 

( c ) Names of all organized bodies and companies ; the names of newspapers, 
magazines, and other publications ; as— 

The Odd Fellows; The Cleveland Printing Company; Marine Band; Woman’s Christian 
Temperance Union ; The Daily News ; The North American Review; The Youth’s Companion. 


178 


PLAIN ENGLISH . 


6 . To begin titles of Honor or distinction, and the names of 
city, county, state, and national official bodies and departments 
of the government; as— 

* Gen’l Lew Wallace; Minister to Russia; City Council; Infirmary Directors; 
State Legislators ; P. O..Department; Mayor; Sheriff; Governor; Justice of the 
Peace. [But not “a sheriff,” “a governor,” or “a justice of the peace,” etc., 
unless placed just before the name; as, “ Sheriff Ryan; ” “ Governor McKinley.” 
Neither should the names of officers of societies, railway companies, banks, etc., 
be capitalized, unless immediately preceding a name. ] 

7 . To begin words used to indicate the Bible directly ; as— 

The Scriptures; Gospel of Luke, etc. [ But not in “ to preach the gospel,” 
“ scriptural doctrine,” and so forth. ] 

8. To begin proper adjectives (87 a) y the names of all relig¬ 
ious sects, political parties, and adjectives derived from them ; as— 

The American people ; Baptist; the Methodist church ; the Republican party. 

9 . To begin names of things spoken of as persons, and of 
especially important things, events, or organized assemblies ; as— 

“ Upon this, Fancy began to bestir herself;” Declaration of Independence ; 
the Reformation; National Educational Association ; the International Christian 
Endeavor Convention. 

10 . To begin the names of important buildings and localities ; 

The Public Library; the High School; [but not when spoken of in a general 
sense; as, “our high schools”] Central Market; the East End; the South 
Side (parts of a city) ; the Penitentiary. [But not jail, prison, or post-office, be¬ 
cause commonly spoken of in a general sense. ] 

11. General.—I n directing letters or other mail-matter, capitalize all words 
except prepositions, conjunctions, or articles, that do not begin a line. [ This 
rule applies also to titles of books, essays, etc., though on the title-page of books 
the title is usually printed entirely in capitals. ] It is allowable in writing sums 
of money, especially in the body of a check, draft, or note, to use capitals to 
begin all numerals ; as, “ One Thousand Four Hundred Seventy-five Dollars.” 
However, this is largely a matter of taste, and even among bankers the usage is 
not uniform, some capitalizing only the first word. In writing advertisements, 
it is allowable and customary to capitalize all important words. 



«N 


~h 



PLAIN ENGLISH. 


179 


APPROPRIATE PREPOSITIONS.* 

324 . Abhorrence of{ not for]. Abhorrent to. You have an abhor¬ 
rence of a thing, and you may say it is abhorrent to you. 

Abound with, in. A country abounds with game, and so we say that game 
-abounds in that country. 

Accommodate to, with. We accommodate ourselves to circumstances, or 
we accommodate others with things we have. 

Accompany-ied by, with. One person is accompanied by another, or he 
is in company with another. One thing is accompanied with another. 

[In] accordance with [ not to ]. Accusation of against. 

Accused of [not for], by. A person is accused of doing a thing by some¬ 
one who brings the accusation against him. 

Acquaint-ed of with. We acquaint (‘inform’) a person of the facts con¬ 
cerning a matter, after which he is acquainted with the facts. 

Acquit of [not from]. A man is acquitted (‘judged not guilty’) of the 
charges brought against him. 

Adapted to, for, from. A person or thing may be adapted to a certain work 
or a thing is adapted for a certain purpose. A piece is adapted from an author. 

Adequate to [not for]. A man’s resources are, or are not, adequate 
(‘equal ’) to the demand upon them. 

Admission to an entertainment; of guilt. Admit to, into [ not of]. Your 
ticket will admit you to the concert; present it at the door and you will be ad¬ 
mitted into the room where the concert is to be held. 

Advantage of, over. One man takes advantage of a favorable opportunity 
to get the advantage of or to gain an advantage over another. 

Admonish of, against. We admonish (‘remind’) a person of his duty, or 
we may admonish (‘ warn ’) him against doing a thing. 

Advance-d from , to a certain place; to within a certain line or distance, 
into , or in a given territory. [See In for into, 262 7 , page 122.] 

Advocate of for, also with. A man may be an advocate of or for a certain 
measure. With is used in the Scriptures. [See 1 John, n : 2. ] 

*To tile Teacher.—In this list, the prepositions given after a word are not in all cases 
the only ones that may be used with it. 

By may be used after almost any verb to introduce an adverbial phrase expressing the meth¬ 
od or the agency by which a thing is done, especially before an active participle; as, for 
instance, “ He accommodated me by lending me his watch.” [See Accused , above; also Dis¬ 
criminate, p. 178. J For also may be used after a great many verbs to introduce adverbial 
phrases of purpose, or reason. [ For example, see Adapted. ] 

The aim has been to give those prepositions that are most likely to be misused. Nearly 
all of these have been exemplified, though the examples are necessarily brief. To make this 
list of the greatest possible benefit to the student, he should be required to construct 
sentences in which these words and their prepositions are used correctly. 



180 


PLAIN ENGLISH. 


32 o. Agree with, in, to, on, upon, or among. Persons agree with each 
other in matters of opinion, and one story or report agrees with another. We 
agree to proposals made by others, and thus form contracts. Persons agree on 
or upon a matter, and several persons may agree among themselves. 

Allied to, with. The lesser is allied to the greater, or one thing is allied 
(‘related’) to another by a similarity or resemblance. Two equals are allied 
(‘connected ’) with each other. [ See Connect. ] 

Alter from [ not to, except the infinitive ]. 

Ambitious of or after. Amuse with, at, or in. 

Angry with persons; at things. 

Apply to, at, for ; application by, through. We apply to a person ; at [ not 
to ] a place ; for help or information. We apply in person, or make the applica¬ 
tion by letter or through another person. 

Appropriate to [not for ]. 

Arrive at, in, from. A man arrives in this country from London and the 
ship in which he conies arrives at New York, at such a time. A person arrives 
at the Union Station in Chicago. [ See Meet. ] 

Ask something of; for, a thing; after someone or something we wish to 
hear about. 

Astonished at, by [ not with ]. Averse A?—infinitive—[ not from ]. 

Attend-ed by, with, to, on, or upon. One person is attended by another An 
undertaking is attended with many difficulties. A servant attends to his duties 
by attending on or upon his master. 

Banish from society; out of a country. 

Believe in, on. “To believe in is to hold as an object of faith. To believe on 
is to rest upon with full confidence.”— Campbell. [See John xiv: i; Acts xiv: 23.] 

Bump against [ not on ]. One should say, “ I bumped my head against the 
post,” not on the post. 

Burn-ed [up or down] into. We may say that ‘ the house burnt up; or 
burnt down,' but in this sense the words ‘ up ’ and ‘ down ’ are adverbs. “ Up 
and down are intensive in the sense of wholly—completely.”— Campbell. The 
letters were burned into the wood. 

Capacity for, of. We say of a person that he has a capacity far learning- 
but of a vessel that it has a capacity of so much, according to some unit of meas¬ 
urement, usually a ton. 

Call at, on, in, after. We call at a house to see a friend, and then we say 
that we have called on [ not upon ] him. We call a thing in question, and we 
call ( name ’) a child after some person. 

Careful of, in, about. We should be careful of that which is left in our 
charge, and careful in or about our words and deeds. 

Charge for, with, to, in, upon. A merchant charges you for goods you 
buy. If on credit, he may afterwards tell you that you are charged with a cer¬ 
tain amount, or that certain items were charged to you in your account The 
enemy charged upon us. 


PLAIN ENGLISH. 


181 


Coincide with [not to]. Collide with [ not against]. 

Combine with , for, into [not together]. Persons combine with each other 
for a purpose. Several things are combined into one. 

Communicate to, with. We communicate information or news to another, 
by mail or other means of communication. If there is a correspondence or 
talking back and forth between us and the other person, we are said to com¬ 
municate with him. 

Compare with , in, to ; comparison with , between. One thing is compared 
with another in quality, or to another for the sake of illustration. We draw 
comparisons between things to show their likeness or unlikeness. 

Complain to, of. Complaint of, against. 

Comply-iance with [not to]. We comply with the request of another. 
We do a thing in compliance with the order or request of another. 

Concerned at , for , with , in, about. A person may be concerned at a re¬ 
port ; for the safety of someone ; with another person in a matter, or in the 
happiness of others ; about something. 

Concur with, in. Persons concur with each other in an opinion. 

Condole with , for , or over. You should condole with a friend for or over 
his loss. 

Confer with , persons ; upon , or about matters. 

Conform to, or with. One thing is made to conform (‘agree’or ‘fit’) to 
another. A man conforms himself to, or with circumstances. 

Connect with, to. One thing is connected with another of equal rank or 
importance ; but to another of greater importance. 

Consist of, m. A material thing consists of the parts of which it is com¬ 
posed. An invisible object of thought, as life , a virtue, etc., consists in being, 
or doing so and so ; as, “ True happiness consists in making others happy.” 

Consistent in, with. A man is consistent in a matter, or we may say, his 
life is not consistent with his profession. 

“ Show me the man that hath in him the power, 

To act consistent 7 uith himself an hour.”— Pope. 

Contend with, against, for. We contend with people, or with difficulties 
against an obstacle, for something we want, or for what we believe is right. 

Contradictory to [not of]. Contrary to [not from nor than]. 

Contrast with, to, between. We contrast one thing with another of the 
same kind. One thing presents a contrast to another. We notice the contrast 
(‘ difference ’) between two things. 

Controversy with, between, about [ not over ]. One person has a controversy 
with another; there is a controversy between them, and the controversy is about 
[not over] a certain matter. 

Convenient to, for. Convert to, into. Convict of [ not for ]. 

Copy after, from, out of. We copy after persons, from a thing, out of a 

book. 


182 


PLAIN ENGLISH. 


326 . Correspond with, to. Persons correspond with each other; things 
correspond (‘ agree,’ ‘ fit,’ or ‘ answer ’) to others. 

Couple with, to, in [see Connect ]; also, in a certain way. 

[In] danger of, from. A man is in danger of receiving harm from that 
which threatens, or there may be danger of his doing thus and so; but he is in 
danger from [not of ] the object that threatens to harm him ; as, to be in danger 
from falling timbers. 

Date from, at. We date a letter from a place at a certain time. 

Deal with, in, by. We deal (‘ trade ’) with a man who deals in the goods we 
want. We should deal by or with others as we would be dealt by. 

Defend from, against. A person defends (‘protects’) himself or another 
from that which threatens to attack; or he defends himself or helps to 
defend another against that which has already attacked. 

Demand of, from. We demand of a person information or something that 
is invisible ; but we demand from him a thing (visible object) which he has, and 
to which we claim a right; as, to demand payment of a man, or to demand from 
him money in payment of his bill. 

Depend on or upon, or depend (‘ hang ’) from. Deprive of [ not from ]. 

Desire of, for. We may speak of the desire of a man, and say he has a de¬ 
sire for a certain thing; but we should not say that his desire of wealth led 
him to do a thing. 

Die of, for, from; death by, at. A person dies of [ uot from ] a disease, or 
from the effects of an injury; or he may meet death by accident, as by fire, or at 
the hands of an assassin. A man may sometimes die for the right, or for the 
object of his love. [See Rom. v: 6-8.] One person may die with another, but 
never with a disease; the disease doesn’t die. 

Differ from, among, about, concerning ; also with. Persons or things differ 
from each other. Several persons differ among themselves about , or concerning 
a matter. Two persons may differ (‘ contend,’ or ‘ quarrel ’) with each other. 

Difference with persons; between things compared [ not in ]. 

Diflferent-ly from [not to nor than\ 

Disappointed of, in. We are disappointed of something we have expected 
but failed to get. We are disappointed in what we get if it does not meet our 
expectation. 

Discriminate between, from. We discriminate between two things by dis¬ 
criminating one from the other. 

Disgusted with, at, by. We are disgusted with someone or something, but 
at or by something that has been done. 

Dislike to, of [ not for], Dissent from [ not to ]. 

Distinguish-ed between, from, by, for, from among. We distinguish be¬ 
tween two things, or we distinguish one thing from another by certain charac¬ 
teristics. A man may be distinguished for certain traits or deeds. From 
among a large number of things, we distinguish those of a certain kind. 

Divide between two ; among more than two ; into parts. 


PLAIN ENGLISH. 


183 


Embark in [ not on ], at, for. Encroach on or upon. 

Engage in, with , to. Enrage with, at, against. [ See Angry. ] 

Enter-ed *», xVzA?, <?«, or upon. We enter (‘ record ’) a thing in a book, tfw, 
upon, or at a certain page. We enter agreements with persons. [ See Put.] 

Entertain-ed by, with. We are entertained a person, or with that which 
is provided for our entertainment. 

Entrance into. [See Put.] Envious of at, against. 

Equal to ; also with. A thing or combination of things is equal to so much. 

[ See Adequate. For with, see John v: 18. ] 

Exhausted by, with. We become exhausted with fatigue, by the effort or 
work which produces the fatigue. 

Expect of, from. We expect certain conduct or action of a person, or we 
expect some object, as a present, from another. 

Expert in knowledge ; at work. When we have reference more particularly 
to a man’s knowledge of a subject, a science, or an art, we should say, “ He is 
expert in it,” but when referring to his work, we should say, “ He is expert 
at it.” 

Fall under, Jrom, into, on<, or upon, to, among. A thing may fall (‘ come ’) 
under our notice ; from that which holds or supports it, into something that re¬ 
ceives it. A nut falls 7 <? the ground, perhaps among the leaves. A man falls on 
or upon the ice [ 262 s ], in or into bad company. [ 262 7 . ] 

Familiar to, with. Persons and objects are familiar to us, and w^e are 
familiar with them. 

Favorable for, to. The circumstances may be favorable for an undertak¬ 
ing, and so we are favorable (‘ disposed to favor or encourage ) to it. 

Favorite of, with. Followed by [not with]. 

Form-ed of, from. We form a thing of that which is different from it, or 
we form it from something of the same kind. “ The arch was formed (‘ made ’) 
of heavy timbers. ” “ Our team was formed (‘ made up ’) from the other two.” 

Free from, in, with, We should be free from prejudice, or anything that 
is wrong. We should not be too free with our money, or too free in expressing 
our opinions. 

Friendly to, toward, a person or project; with, as, “ Persons are friendly 
with each other.” 

Frightened at an object, by a report, news, etc. 

Frown at, on, or upon. [ See Smile. ] 

Good at, for. “ They are generally good at flattering who are good for 
nothing else.”— Southey. 

Graduate-S-d at, of i in, by [ not from ]. Persons graduate at a place, in a 
certain class; and they are then graduates of the school by which they were 
graduated or given their degrees. Persons are not graduated from a school. 

Graft into on, or upon. Whether we should say graft into, on, or upon, de¬ 
pends upon the mode of grafting. [ See Webster on grafting. ] 


184 


PLAIN ENGLISH. 


327 . Grateful to a person ; for a favor. 

Grieve at, that which causes our grief; for that which we have lost. 

Guilty of [not for]. Healed of [not from]. Hinder from [not to ]. 

Hold of to, on, or upon ; also with. 

Hunger for food; after knowledge. [ See Thirst. ] 

Illustrated by an artist; with, or by wood-cuts, etc. 

Impatient with persons; at that which annoys for something to arrive; 
under misfortune, disappointment, or wrongs. 

Impress-ed on, or upon, with. A thought is impressed on, or upon our 
minds, or we are impressed with the importance of something. 

Incensed with, at [see Angry], against the person, if the anger leads to 
action. Generally, against with these words conveys the idea of a third person 
who is stirring up the.angry one. 

Incentive to [ not for ]. Infer from [ not by]. 

Incorporate-d into, with. A thing is incorporated (‘taken ’) into something 
else, or several persons or things are incorporated into one body. One thing 
is sometimes incorporated (‘ combined ’) with another. 

Indifferent to [ not of]. Indispensable to [ not for]. 

Indulge (intrans.) in something habitual (trans.); with something to please. 

Influence [ noun ] with, over, in, on. We may have some influence with a 
person, without having absolute influence over him. A man may have an in¬ 
fluence in a community and what he does may have an influence on the lives of 
others ; that is, he influences [ verb ] others to do or to be. 

Inform-ation of, about, concerning. [ See Acquaint. ] 

Inquire of, for, after, about, concerning, and sometimes in. [See Acts 
ix : ii.] 

Insensible to that which affects, of that which is going on. 

Inseparable from [not to]. 

Insert-ed-ion in, into. One thing is inserted in another that is different 
but into that which is of the same kind. Thus we insert an advertisement in 
the paper, or we insert one piece of wood into another. 

Insight into [ not of\. Inspection of, over [ not into ]. 

Interfere-d with plans, claims, etc., in a matter [not between]. 

Interspersed among, through, with [ not by ]. 

Introduced to; as, a speaker to an audience, or one person to another- 
into that which is different; as, to introduce a man into society ; in a place - as 
to introduce a bill in Congress. The gentleman should be introduced to the 
lady. 

Intrust to, with. We intrust (or entrust) something to a person when we 
entrust or trust the person with it. 

Invest in, with. [ Different meanings of “ invest.” ] We invest money in a 
thing for profit; we invest (‘clothe ’) a person with authority. 


\ 


PLAIN ENGLISH. 


185 


Involved in [not with]. Irritated by, at, against. [S ee Angry.] 

Join to something greater; with something equal. [ See Connect. ] 

Killed by an enemy, or by an accident; with a sword, a pistol shot, etc. 

Lean against a wall, a tree, and so forth ; on or upon a staff or other sup¬ 
port ; to or toward a thing. ^ 

Listen for a sound expected; to a sound heard '[not a*]. 

Live at a definite place, as a small city or village, by a road, street stream 
and so forth, or on one side or the other of the same; in a country, a certain 
part of the country, or a large city. 

Look for a thing expected, or for something lost; after what is entrusted 
to one s care ; into that which we wish to learn. 

Make of j from, out of with, for. 

Marry-ied. The bride is married to the bridegroom—the woman to the 
man. They may marry with ceremony, amid pomp. [ See 412. ] 

Martyr for a cause or principle; to the malice of those who put the martyr 
to death. J 

Mastery over that which is controlled*; of a subject of thought. 

Matter with [ not of]. Mindful of [ not for ]. Mixed with, in. 

Model after a pattern, on a plan. Mourn over a loss; for a friend. 

N ame after, from [not for]. A person is named after another, ox from 
some circumstance, or happening. 

Necessary to, ffr. Necessity for, of. Need [n. ) of [not for]. 

Object (v.) to. Objection to, against. Obtain of, from. 

Oblivious of [ not to ]. Occasion ( n. ) of for [ not to ]. Occupy by, with, in. 

Offense against [ not to ]. Offended at, by, with. [See Angry.] 

Opportunity for. [ Sometimes of, but better the infinitive. ] 

Opposite [ to superfluous ]. Opposition to [ not against]. 

Order from, through. We order goods from a certain place, and so we may 
order them from [ not of] or through a firm or person. 

Originate in, with, from [ not of]. Overwhelm by, with, in. 

Parallel with, to. A line runs parallel with another, or’ one line is parallel to 
another; but to say that two lines are parallel to each other is superfluous. 

Part from, with. To part from is to leave ; to part with is to give up ; thus, 
to part from a friend is not the same as to part with him. 

Partake of; that is, ‘to take part of.’ [See Partake , page 142.] 

Patient with those with whom we deal; toward others; under trying circum¬ 
stances. 

Peculiar to [not from ]. Penetrate to, into, within. [ See Advance. ] 

Perish of, by, with. [ See Die, — death. ] 

Pine (or repine) at what is; for what is not. 

• 


186 


PLAIN ENGLISH. 


328 . Pleased zuith, at. “ His kind heart will be pleased with my success.’" 
“ I was pleased at the effect which I produced.”— Macaulay. 

Possessed of goods ; with or by a notion or spirit. [ See Acts xvi: 16.] 

Prefer to, above, before. Preferable to [ not than ]. 

Preference to, before, over, above, for. Prejudice against [not to nor for]. 

Present to, with. We present a thing to a person, a person with something. 

Preside at a meeting ; over an assembly. 

Prevail on, upon, with, over, against. We prevail on, upon, or with (‘ per* 
suade ’) persons. We prevail over (or against ) an obstacle or an enemy. 

Prevent [ from ]; preventive, against. From after prevent is really super¬ 
fluous ; thus, “ to prevent him from doing it,” means “ to prevent his doiug it.” 
We use preventives ctgainst evils. 

Prohibit [from]. From generally superfluous. [See Prevent. ] 

Protect from, against. [ See Defend. ] 

Provide with things needed; against an emergency or a danger. 

Punished with some kind of punishment; for misconduct. 

Purge of but better from. [ See Hebrews ix: 14; 2 Peter xvi: 8. ] 

[In] Pursuance of [not to]. Pursuant to. 

Put into, in. [See In for into, 262 7 .] “With reference to real entrance, use 
into ; as, to put meal into a bag, money into one’s pocket, into one’s hand. With 
reference to figurative (generally with abstract nouns),f» is mostly used ; as, to 
put in action, in effect, in execution, in order, in a passion ; also, in type, in 
print.”— Campbell. 

Read in, from, out of, to. We read in a book for ourselves, from (or out of) 
the book for (or to) others. 

Receive from [not of ]. Recite from, out of [See Read.] 

Reconcile-d to (‘to make peace’); with (‘to make consistent’)—See 
Matthew v: 24. 

Reduce to a certain state or condition ; under subjection. 

[ In ] Reference to [ not of]. 

Regard for [ in or with ]; regard to [ but not in regard of]. 

Rejoice at what takes place ; with persons ; in personal qualities. 

Rely on or upon [ not in ]. Remedy for [ but “ preventive ” against ]. 

Remonstrate with persons, against proceedings. 

Repent of [ not for ]. Reproach with, for. Resemblance to [ not with]. 

Respect for, to [ not in ]. We have respect for person. We speak in respect 
to (or with respect to) a matter. [See Regard. ] 

Reward-ed for, with. “ Montague was rewarded^the \dngfor his services 
with the place of Chancellor.”— Campbell. 

Search for (or after) a person or something lost; out the truth; also^ 
search (‘ inquire ’) into particulars. 


PLAIN ENGLISH. 


187 


Secure from, against. We secure a thing from a person, but persons or 
things are made secure against attack or calamity. “ My fortune is tolerably 
secure against any but a great public calamity.”— Macautay. 

Seek. [ See Search. ] Seized by a person or an enemy ; with sickness. 

Sell for a price ; by subscription, or by [not at] auction. 

Share in, of, with. We share (‘ take part ’) in a matter; receive a share of 
a thing ; or share (‘ divide ’) it with someone else. 

Sick of an undertaking—( figurative ); with a disease, as a fever. Formerly 
of [ See Mark 1:30.] 

Similar to [ not with ]. Similarity to, between, of [ not with ]. 

Smile at that which amuses ; on (or upon ) persons. 

Speak to a person or an audience; with a person, on (or upon ) or about a. 

matter. 

Strive with or against a person or a thing that opposes ; for that which is to 
be obtained. 

Suited with, to. Persons are suited with things ; things, to purposes. 

Surprised at, by, or with. Surround-ed by or with. [By is used after a 
passive verb-phrase; with, when the verb has an object. ] 

Sympathy—Sympathize with, for, between, among. We sympathize with 
a man in his misfortune or distress, and so we have sympathy (‘ pity ) for a 
person who has been unfortunate. When two are in sympathy with each other, 
there is sympathy between them. Several persons may have sympathy among 
themselves. 

Talk to a person or an audience ; of or about things ; with persons who talk 
with us over (or about ) a matter. 

Thirst for something to drink; after knowledge. Trust to, in [not on]. 

[ In ] Unison with [not to]; [ At ] V ariance with [ not to ]. 

Vexed with persons ; at what has happened. 

View of, to. In view of, and with a view to; also with the view of. 

Wait for that which is coming ; wait (‘call ’) on a person. 

Want of{ from ), with. We may want something of (‘ from ’) a person, or we 
may be in want of something needful. 

Weary of, with, in. We may become weary of ( or with ) that which causes 
much exertion ; but we should never be “ weary in well doing.”—Gal. vi : 9. 

Write from a place, from choice, from necessity; down what we hear; 
write (or ‘ fill ’) out a check or an agreement. 

Yoked with a similar or equal thing; to something different or greater. 
[ See Connect ]; also together with. [ See 2 Cor. vi: 14. ] 


188 


PLAIN ENGLISH. 


LIST OF IRREGULAR VERBS. 


329 . [Those marked with an r have also the regular form. ] 


Present T. 

Past T. 

Perfect Part. 

Present T. 

Past T. 

Perfect Part. 

Abide 

abode 

abode 

Clothe 

clad, r 

clad, r 

Arise 

arose 

arisen 

Come 

came 

come 

Awake 

awoke, r 

awaked 

Cost 

cost 

cost 

Be or am 

was 

been 

Creep 

crept 

crept 

Bear 

bore 

borne 

Crow 

crew, r 

crowed 

Beat 

beat 

beaten 

Cut 

cut 

cut 

Begin 

began 

begun 

Dare 

durst, r 

dared 

Bend 

bent, r 

bent, r 

Deal 

dealt, r 

dealt, r 

Bereave 

bereft, r 

bereft, r 

Dig 

dug, r 

dug, r 

Beseech 

besought 

besought 

Dive 

dove, r 

dived 

Bet 

bet 

bet 

Do 

did 

done 

Bless 

blest, r 

blest, r 

Draw 

drew 

drawn 

Bid 

bid or bade bid [den] 

Dream 

dreamt, r 

dreamt, r 

Bind 

bound 

bound 

Dress 

drest, r 

drest, r 

Bite 

bit 

bit [ten] 

Drink 

drank 

drunk 

Bleed 

bled 

bled 

Drive 

drove 

driven 

Blend 

blent, r 

blent, r 

Dwell 

dwelt, r 

dwelt, r 

Blow 

blew 

blown 

Bat 

ate 

eaten 

Break 

broke 

broken 

Fall 

fell 

fallen 

Breed 

bred 

bred 

Feed 

fed 

fed 

Bring 

brought 

brought 

Feel 

felt 

felt 

Build 

built, r 

built, r 

Fight 

fought 

fought 

Burn 

burnt, r 

burnt, r 

Find 

found 

found 

Burst 

burst 

burst 

Flee 

fled 

fled 

Buy 

bought 

bought 

Fling 

flung 

flung 

Cast 

cast 

cast 

Fly 

flew 

flown 

Catch 

caught 

caught 

Forget 

forgot 

forgotten 

Chide 

chid 

chid [den] 

Forgive 

forgave 

forgiven 

Choose 

chose 

chosen 

Forsake 

forsook 

forsaken 

Cleave 

f cleft, r 
^ clove 

cleft, r 
cloven 

Freeze 

Get 

froze 

got 

frozen 
got [ten] 

Cling 

clung 

clung 

Gild 

gilt, r 

gilt, r 


Note Of the twenty-five verbs that have the same form in the past as in the present knit 
quit, whet , and szueat, are sometimes given the regular ending, ed. The word spit formerly had 
spat for its past form. Read changes the vowel sound for its past. 

Note 2.— Several verbs, usually regular, are often given an irregular form ending with t. 
The principal ones are: (a) A few ending inw; as, bless, blest, or blessed; [b) Others end¬ 
ing with /, n, or p; as, spell, learn, leap; (c) Some ending in d following /, n, or r; as, build, 
bend, gird. Verbs which have both regular and irregular forms are said to be “ redundant.” 


PLAIN ENGLISH. 


189 s 


Present T. 

Past T. 

Perfect Part. 

Present T. 

Past r. 

Perfect Part. 

Gird 

girt, r 

girt, r 

Mistake 

mistook 

mistaken 

Give 

gave 

given 

Mow 

mowed 

mown, r 

Go 

went 

gone 

Pay 

paid 

paid 

Grave 

graved 

graven, r 

Plead 

pled, r 

pled, r 

Grind 

ground 

ground 

Put 

put 

put 

Grow 

grew 

grown 

Quit 

quit, r 

quit, r 

Hang 

hung, r 

hung, r 

Rap 

rapt, r 

rapt, r 

Have 

had 

had 

Read 

read 

read 

Hear 

heard 

heard 

Rend 

rent 

rent 

Heave 

hove, r 

hoven, r 

Rid 

rid 

rid 

Hew 

hewed 

hewn, r 

Ride 

rode 

ridden 

Hide 

hid 

hidden 

Ring 

rang 

rung 

Hit 

hit 

hit 

Rise 

rose 

risen 

Hold 

held 

held 

Rive 

rived 

riven, r 

Hurt 

hurt 

hurt 

Run 

ran 

run 

Keep 

kept 

kept 

Saw 

sawed 

sawn, r 

Kneel 

knelt, r 

kjnelt, r 

Say 

said 

said 

Knit 

knit, r 

■ knit, r 

See 

saw 

seen 

Know 

knew 

known 

Seek 

sought 

sought 

Hade 

laded 

laden, r 

Seethe 

sod, r 

sodden, r 

Lay 

laid 

laid 

Sell 

sold 

sold 

Lead 

led 

led 

Send 

sent 

sent 

Leave 

left 

left 

Set 

set 

set 

Lean 

leant, r 

leant, r 

Shake 

shook 

shaken 

Leap 

leapt, r 

leapt, r 

Shape 

shaped 

shapen, r 

Learn 

learnt, r 

learnt, r 

Shear 

sheared 

shorn, r 

Lend 

lent 

lent 

Shave 

shaved 

shaven, r 

Let 

let 

let 

Shed 

shed 

shed 

Lie 

lay 

lain 

Shine 

shone, r 

shone, r 

Liglit 

lit, r 

lit, r 

Shoe 

shod 

shod 

Lose 

lost 

lost 

Shoot 

shot 

shot 

Make 

made 

made 

Show 

showed 

shown, r 

Mean 

meant 

meant 

Shrink 

shrank 

shrunk [en] 

Meet 

met 

met 

Shred 

shred 

shred 


Note j.—Hang, meaning to kill, is regular ; as, “ They hanged the murderer.” 

Note 4— Verbs whose perfect participles are formed by adding n or en to the present or past 
forms or to neither, are called strong verbs , and are said to belong to the ‘‘ old ” or ‘‘ strong ” 
conjugation in contradistinction to the “ weak ” or “ new ” conjugation. To the latter belong 
all regular verbs and all irregular verbs except those that change the vowel but take no added 
ending for the past form. These last belong to the strong conjugation. 

Examples of “ strong ” conjugation : Arise, drive, fly, sing, blow, forget. 

Examples of “ weak ” conjugation : Bend, bring, feel, lean, leap. 

Remark.—Some verbs belong to both conjugations ; as, hew, grave, shave. 

A few strong verbs double the final consonant pa. taking the suffix en ; as, bid, hide, write. 


190 PLAIN ENGLISH. 


Present T. 

Past T. 

Perfect Part. 

Present T. 

Past T. 

Perfect Part. 

Shut 

shut 

shut 

Stride 

strode 

stridden 

Sing 

sang 

sung 

String 

strung 

strung 

Sink 

sank 

sunk 

Strive 

strove 

striven 

Sit 

sat 

sat 

Strew 

strewed 

strewn, r 

Slay 

slew 

slain 

Swear 

swore 

sworn 

Sleep 

slept 

slept 

Sweat 

sweat, r 

sweat, r 

Slide 

slid 

slid [den] 

Sweep 

swept 

swept 

Sling 

slung 

slung 

Swell 

swelled 

swollen, r 

Slink 

slunk 

slunk 

.Swim 

swam 

swum 

Slit 

slit 

slit 

Swing 

swung 

swung 

Smell 

smelt, r 

smelt, r 

Take 

took 

taken 

Smite 

smote 

smitten 

Teach 

taught 

taught 

Sow 

sowed 

sown, r 

Tear 

tore 

torn 

Speak 

spoke 

spoken 

Tell 

told 

told 

Speed 

sped 

sped 

Think 

thought 

thought 

Spell 

spelt, r 

spelt, r 

Thrive 

throve, r 

thriven, r 

Spend 

spent 

spent 

Throw 

threw 

thrown 

Spill 

spilt, r 

spilt, r 

Thrust 

thrust 

thrust 

Spin 

spun 

spun 

Tread 

trod 

trod [den] 

Spit 

spit 

spit 

Wake 

woke, r 

woke, r 

Split 

split 

split 

Wax 

waxed 

waxen ,r 

Spoil 

spoilt, r 

spoilt, r 

Wear 

wore 

worn 

Spread 

spread 

spread 

Weave 

wove 

woven 

Spring 

sprang 

sprung 

Wed 

wed, r 

wed, r 

Stand 

stood 

stood 

Weep 

wept 

wept 

Stave 

stove, r 

stove, r 

Wet 

wet, r 

wet, r 

Steal 

stole 

stolen 

Whet 

whet, r 

whet, r 

Stick 

stuck 

stuck 

Win 

won 

won 

Sting 

stung 

stung 

Wind 

wound 

wound 

Stink 

stunk 

stunk 

Work 

wrought, r 

wrought, r 

Strike 

struck 

f struck 
t stricken 

Wring 

Write 

wrung 

wrote 

wrung 

written 

330. Defective 

Verbs.— The 

following irregular verbs are lacking 

(deficient) in one or more of their principal parts (163). None of them have a 
passive participle form. Such verbs are called “ defective.” 

Present. Past. Present. p as t. 

Begone . ought 

Beware . . quoth 

Can could Future 

Ma y might shall should 

Must ... will would 







APPENDIX 


OF 

NOTES, QUOTATIONS, AND COMMENTS. 


331 . Parts of Speech (5*).—It should be distinctly understood, at 
the very outstart of our study of the English language, that the classifying of 
words into “parts of speech” is for the sake of convenience in considering 
their functions in the unit of speech—the sentence; and that owing to the 
flexibility of our language, any attempt at defining these classes of words must 
be more or less unsatisfactory, especially to an inquiring mind. 

To use the statement made by Dr. Abbott, “ The fundamental princi¬ 
ple of English grammar may be stated with little exaggeration as being this, 
that any word may be used as any part of speech.” 

(a) In one of his trenchant articles on English “grammar,” so called, Mr. 
Richard Grant White says: “ One trait of the English language is the great 

flexibility, not to say looseness, of its structure in regard to what are called the 
parts of speech. In this respect it is as in others, nearly unique among the 
languages of the civilized world. English may almost be said to have no dis¬ 
tinctive parts of speech. This is a strong putting of the case, I admit; but it 
expresses the truth more nearly than it could be expressed without a long and 
carefully-elaborated statement. The principal parts of speech are the noun, 
the verb, the adjective, and that peculiar sort of word which by grammarians 
has been strangely called the pronoun. . . . Now, the fact is that these 

principal parts of speech are so interchangeable in our mother tongue that they 
can hardly be said to be distinguished from each other. 

In English, almost any simple noun may be used as a verb without change in 
its form ; and in like manner almost any verb may be used as a noun. Nouns 
are used as adjectives, and adjectives as nouns. Pronouns may be used, and are 
used, as nouns, as adjectives, and even as verbs. We wire a message, we table a 
resolution, we foot our way home, a hunter trees a bear, a broker bears stock or 
bulls it, the merchant ships his goods, the hypocrite cloaks his sins with acted 
falsehood, the invalid suns himself, the east wind clouds the sky. 

We thus constantly use, and for centuries have used, as verbs, words which 

* Figures in parenthesis refer to paragraphs. 




192 


PLAIN ENG L IS II . 


originally were nouns. On the other hand, we speak of the run of a ship, of a 
great haul of fish, of a horse coming in on the jump, of a man being on the go, 
of a great rush of people, of the push of business, of the thrust of the rafters 
of a house, of the spring and fall, and so on, using verbs as nouns. We can 
not speak of the right and the wrong, the good and the bad, the strong and the 
weak, withoul using adjectives as nouns; for the pretense of the elder gram¬ 
marians that a qualified noun is understood in these cases is unfounded, and 
was made only for the sake of keeping up the make-believe of grammar. 

And as to using nouns as adjectives, we cannot speak of a gold watch, an iron 
bar, a bar-room, a carpet-bag, a carpet knight, a brick house, a stone bridge, or 
a windmill, without doing that. It is the commonest conversion of parts of 
speech. We could hardly communicate in English without it. When we say 
a brew-house, a wash-house, or a turn-stile, we use verbs as adjectives. As to 
pronouns, * he ’ and ‘ she ’ are constantly used as adjectives, as, a he goat, a she 
animal. Shakespeare uses “ thou ” as a verb : ‘ If thou thou'st him,’ that is, 
if thou say’st “thou” to him; and we nowadays say that Friends “thee and 
thou ” us. Indeed, this convertibility of the parts of speech is so characteris¬ 
tic of the English language that I found this sentence in a London magazine : 

‘ Here are the whereons to make your fortune,’—an adverb being used as a 
noun.”— Every-Day English, p. 295. 

(b) The gist of the matter is that the genius of our language is such that 
there are but comparatively few of its words that we may label with grammatical 
names and say that they always belong to such and such a part-of-speech. 
Hence it is we say that a classification of words according to what they do , and 
an attempt to define these classes, will prove to be more or less unsatisfactory. 
We shall constantly find that words which according to one definition belong 
to one part-of-speech (as, for instance, a noun or a preposition ) are doing the 
work which, according to another definition, belongs to some other part-of- 
speech. That is to say, words seem, at times, to have a double function; ex¬ 
amples of such are adverbial nouns, relative pronouns, etc. [See 109, 119. ] 

(c) Not a little of the inaccuracy of grammatical definitions has resulted 
from incorrect terms to begin with. For the benefit of those who are suf¬ 
ficiently interested in our mother-tongue to enjoy a critical study of it, some 
of the inaccuracies and the incorrectness of terms, above referred to, are dis¬ 
cussed in the following notes. 

332 . Verbs (55).—Verbs usually assert one of three things : 1. Action 
(or‘doing’) ; as, “I walk,” “God loves;” 2. Existence (or‘being’); as, “We 
are,” “God is;” 3. Possession (or ‘ having’) ; as, “W z have,” “H e has.” 

(a) Verbs are also used to ask questions and to express commands; as, 
“Will you go?” [You] “Come.” Surely the coming and going are not here 
asserted. (56.) 

( b) By changing the form of a verb aud using it in a peculiar way we cause 


PLAIN ENGLISH. 


193 


it simply to assume the action, existence or possession, or to name these things 
without asserting them. Verbs used in this way have by some been classified 
as separate parts of speech—participles and infinitives. We do not consider 
such a classification essential (indeed it is not so regarded by any recent author) 
and have treated the participles as forms of the verb, and the infinitives as 
phrases, both having certain peculiar uses. (164, 190-4; also 365.) 

333 . Phrases (10).—A phrase is a combination of two or more words 
(not including a subject), having in a sentence the office or value of a single 
part of speech and capable of being parsed as such.— Whitney's Essentials of 
English Grammar. 

( a) With the verb-phrases may be classed many idiomatic expressions, such 
as, “The fire went out'' or “was put out," “He will not give up." On this 
point, Professor Sill says: [ “ Practical Lessons,” p. 149, foot-note.] 

“ Any group of words whose relations to each other are obscure and difficult 
to determine, and which, taken together, do the work of a verb, may properly 
and conveniently be called a verb-phrase. This definition includes several 
groups of words which the grammarians usually take good care to avoid, on ac¬ 
count of the difficulties which they present. I believe it to be quite in the 
direction of simplicity and good sense to regard even expressions like the fol¬ 
lowing as verb-phrases, and to make no attempt with beginners to analyze them, 
or to parse the words separately : 

I. He gets excited over trifling annoyances. 2. I am going to write you a letter: 3. I get up 
at six every morning. 4. The matter should be attended to. 5. The poor must be taken care of." 

Professor Whitney says: [“Essentials of Eng. Gram.,” p. 126.] “It is im¬ 
possible to draw any absolute line between such verb-phrases as have been set 
forth and named above and those yet looser and more accidental combinations 
into which words enter in sentences, in order to.limit and define an action in 
still other ways, ds regards time and manner. 

Thus, one might prefer to class as futures, phrases like these : 

I am going to give ; I am about to give ; I am on the point of giving.” 

334 # Pronouns (11).—“A pronoun is a word used instead of a noun.” 
Professor Sill gives this definition in his “ Practical Lessons in English,” and 
then in a foot-note, adds: “ Perhaps the following definition would be better 

than the time-honored one given above: A pronoun is a word that represents 
an object without naming it." 

(a) We are not to think of this part-of-speech as including only what are 
called personal, relative, and interrogative pronouns, for there is a large class 
of words, numerals, demonstratives, and indefinites, particularly the latter, that 
often as truly represent objects without naming them as do I, we, he, they , who, 
it, etc. (83, 84.) 

( b) In speaking of words that have lost their individuality, Samuel Ram¬ 
sey says: “ Among the most important of those words that have no individu- 


194 


PLAIN ENGLISH. 


ality now are the Pronouns. The name means standing for or representing 
nouns ; and there is no possible noun for which some of them may not be used. 
Hence, the pronoun has been termed a name for everything. Associated with 
them are some words which, not in signification but in grammatical use, par¬ 
take of the character of adjectives. They sometimes take the place of nouns 
and sometimes accompany them.” Again, the same author says, “ There are, no 
doubt, words now losing their individuality, and sinking into the condition of 
being ‘ names of everything.’ As an example of this kind, Professor Karle in¬ 
stances the word thing. There is certainly no object in nature or art to which 
it is more appropriate than to another. Originally it signified a public assembly 
bearing some analogy to a town meeting.” (83 a.) 

{e) In a chapter on this subject, Mr. White shows that pronouns are proba¬ 
bly the oldest and certainly the least changeable part-of-speech we have. He 
further shows that the idea that “ a pronoun is a word that stands for a noun or 
an ordinary name,” or as “one that points out some person or thing that has 
been named before ” is, in part at least, erroneous. He quotes Buttman as say¬ 
ing, “ That pronouns cannot be so precisely defined as not to admit many words 
which may also be regarded as adjectives,” and then adds : “ This is only a part 
of the confusion which reigns in grammar. For the very grammarians cannot 
agree among themselves as to the limits between nouns and adjectives, so that 
some of them compromise the matter by making two classes—nouns substan¬ 
tive and nouns adjective. The truth upon this subject is that the so-called 
pronoun, instead of being a make-shift, a convenience to prevent confusion and 
monotony, a sort of appendix and auxiliary to an already developed vocabulary, 
is the noun of nouns, the word of words, the most important, the most radical, 
the most ineradicable element of language.”— Every-Day English , pp. 326-28. 

335 , Adjective (15).—This is the usual explanation of the term “ adjec¬ 
tive,” and the definition given (15 b) is, in substance, the one commonly met 
with. This definition includes nouns and pronouns in the possessive case. The 
word ‘ adjective ’ is from adject , which means (see Webster) ‘ to throw to,’ ‘ to 
add to.’ Hence, words ‘ thrown to,’ or ‘ added to ’ other words to modify them. 
Since adverbs are as truly adjected (‘ thrown, or added to ’) the verb, etc., as our 
so-called adjectives, the term “ adjective ” is not strictly a significant one. Ad- 
nominal would have been a more significant name ; that is, a word added to 
a noun (‘ nominal ’) or pronoun. 

336 . Adverb (19) is not strictly a significant term, but since the princi¬ 
pal use of this class of words is to modify a verb direct (the qualifying of ad¬ 
jectives and other adverbs being but a small part of their work), it maybe 
admitted as probably the best term for the purpose. 

{a) The principal objection to the usual definition of the adverb, namely, 
that it is “a word used to qualify or limit the meaning of a verb,” etc., lies in 
the fact that it includes too much. For does not the object of every transitive 


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195 


-verb limit , qualify , or modify the meaning of that verb ? To illustrate : “ That 

man drinks—coffee.” No one will undertake to say that the noun “ coffee” has 
not here a limiting or qualifying effect on the meaning of the verb drinks . 

( b ) Professor Sill gives the following definition : “ An adverb is a word used 

to modify the meaning of any word except a name worjl ” [ nouns and pronouns ]. 
This is a good definition, since an adverb may qualify a preposition or a con¬ 
junction. (354.) 

(c) Again, the definition includes nouns denoting time, distance, direction, 
measure or value. To say that a noun in such cases is the “ object of a preposi¬ 
tion understood,” or that it is “in the objective case without a governing word,” 
is a part of the “ make-believe ” with which our English grammars have hereto¬ 
fore been filled. The fault lies in the definition of adverbs, and not in calling 
nouns used in this way adverbial nouns, or as by Abbott and Whitney, “ adver¬ 
bial objectives.” [See 373.] 

337. Preposition (26), from pre-, ‘before,’ and posit , ‘placed.’ True, 
this is accepted as meaning “placed before ” the principal word (a noun or some 
substantive) in the phrase ; but the term is faulty since it is just as applicable 
to all other words in the sentence (except the last), each of them being ‘placed 
before ’ some other word. 

( a ) Dr. Abbott objects to the usual definition of a preposition,—“a word 
that shows the relation of a noun or pronoun to some other word in the sen¬ 
tence.” Regarding this definition, he says: “ It seems to me of little use even 

for clever children and of great harm to dull ones. I confess further, for my 
part, I should have thought that in the sentence ‘ Thomas protects John,’ 
Thomas stands in the relation of a protector to John, so that “ protects shows 
Ihe relation between ‘ Thomas ’ and ‘John ’ and is, therefore, according to this 
-definition, a preposition.” 

338. The term prepositional plirase has long been loosely employed 
to denote both adjectival (aj'ek-tiv-al) and adverbial phrases beginning with a 
preposition ; and it is not only a loose term, but an incorrect one. A “preposi¬ 
tional phrase” (or, properly, preposition-phrase) is a phrase of two or more 
words used as a single preposition. [75 s ; also see Webster. ] 

339. Conjunctions (29).—A term that includes the relative pronouns as 
well as certain adverbs. But it is to be observed that the relatives have another 
office to fill (119), and this is true also to an extent of the conjunctive adverbs 
which have a modifying force aside from their office as connectives. 

340. Interjections (31).—“The name interjection signifies something 
that is interjected , or ‘thrown into the midst of’ something else; and this some¬ 
thing else is the sentence as made up of the other parts of speech. Calling 
them thus, then, implies that they are not of the sentence itself; they are not 
put together with other parts to make up sentences. And this is in fact the 


196 


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case. Hence, though it is proper enough, because convenient, to call the inter¬ 
jection a part-of-speech, they are not in the same sense as the others. Bach in¬ 
terjection is, in a certain way, an undivided sentence, put in the language of 
feeling rather than in that of reason.”— Essentials of English Grammar ,p. ig. 

341 . (37-)—We have made use of the terms “bare subject” and “bare 
predicate ” in preference to the usual “ simple subject,” etc., for the reason that 
we think it better to restrict the term simple in its syntax use to distinguish the 
simple sentence from complex and compound sentence. Professor Whitney is 
the only author, so far as we have noticed, that has employed the terms “ bare ” 
and “ simple ” in this distinctive way. He applies the term “bare ” also to sim¬ 
ple sentences consisting of only a subject and a predicate. 

342 . Predicate Adjective (16 b) ;—otherwise, “ attribute complement.” 

(a) Attribute complement ” is proper enough when applied to predicate 

adjectives ( attribute meaning ‘ a quality’ or ‘characteristic ’), but by some it has 
been loosely employed to mean not only adjectives but nouns, pronouns, 
phrases (including infinitives) and clauses, used to complete the predicate after 
copula verbs. We believe it is better to use the more significant terms found 
in paragraphs 16 b , 17, 41 a , and 120. 

343 . (4 2 ~ 3 -)—Since the verbis always limited by its object, it is also called 
the object complement;” hence, the complete predicate includes the object 
with all its modifiers. In this work, however, we have restricted the term “ com¬ 
plement ” to the infinitive adjuncts of subjects and objects. [ See 222 and 223.} 

344 . Enough (52 c), when an adverb, always follows the verb it modifies ; 
as, “ It is not deep enough.” “ They did not work hard enough.” 

345 . Personal Pronouns (80).—“As an explanation of our distinction 
between the First, Second', and Third Persons, it may be remembered that the 
Romans, whose grammar we have copied, thought it natural for the person 
speaking to think first of himself (/); second, of the person to whom he was 
speaking (you), and third, of any one else about whom he was speaking (him 
or her).—How to Parse,p. 61. 

346 . (81 a.) It ( from “ hit,” the Anglo-Saxon neuter of he) is not, strictly 
speaking, a personal pronoun, though often used in referring to young children. 
For the origin of it and its, see “Words and Their Uses,” pp. 241-44. 

347 . Relative Pronouns (82).—We have not included what in this 
list, though such a classification of the word has long been followed by gram¬ 
marians. The parsing of what as a “ double relative,” equivalent to that which 
or the thing which, may possess an interest for those who delight in technicali¬ 
ties, but there is nothing but confusion in it for the average student. Besides, 
it is a useless distinction, almost an absurdity, to consider what any more a rela- 


PLAIN ENGLISH. 


197 


live in “ I don’t know what he wanted,” than which is in “ I don’t know which 
he wanted ; ” for there is no antecedent for either word. True, which is select¬ 
ive, what , general; but in these sentences both are indefinite, and there is no 
more need of resolving what into that which or the thing which , in order to 
parse it, than there is in resolving which into the thing which. Nor is the what 
any more a relative in “ We have not heard what caused the trouble,” than 
which is in “ We have not heard which caused it,” or who in “ We have not 
heard who caused it.” 

( a ) “ The conjunction as is sometimes used, especially after such with the 
-value of a relative pronoun ; thus, ‘ I love such as love me ; ’ such as meaning 
here the same as those who.”—Essentials of English Grammar , p. 78. 

( b ) Who, Which, and That. —“ Who and whose refer to persons and 
things personified; which, to infants, irrational animals, and to persons when 
the specification is indefinite or interrogative ; and that is used in the place of 
both which and who. Which is general; that is restrictive; hence a relative 
clause that conveys an additional and general idea requires which instead of that; 
for illustration, see the use of “ that ” in the last sentence.—Townsend’s “ Art 
of Speech,”p. jii. 

( c ) Dr. Abbott, in “How to Write Clearly,” gives the following rule for 
using who , which , and that: 

When using the Relative Pronoun, use “ who ” and “ which ” 
where the meaning is “ and he, it, &c.,” or “ for he, it, &c.” In other 
cases use “ that,” if euphony allows. 

“ I heard this from the inspector, who ( and he) heard it from the guard that travelled with 
the train.” 

“ Fetch me (all) the books that lie on the table, and also the pamphlets, which (and these) 
you will find on the floor.” 

An adherence to this rule would remove much ambiguity. Thus : 

“ There was a public-house next door, which was a great nuisance,” means “ and this (i. e. 
the fact of its being next door) was a great nuisance ; ” whereas, that would have meant “ Next 
door was a public house that ( i. e. the public house) was a great nuisance.” 

“Who,” “which,” etc.. Introduce a new fact about the anteced¬ 
ent, wbereas “ that ” introduces something without which the 
antecedent is incomplete or undefined. 

Thus, in the first example above, “ inspector ” is complete in itself, and “ who ” introduces 
a new fact about him ; “ guard ” is incomplete, and requires “ that traveled with the train ” to 
complete the meaning. 

It is not, and cannot be maintained, that this rule, though observed in Elizabethan English, 

-is observed by our best modern authors. ( Probably a general impression that “ that ” cannot 
be referred to persons has assisted “ who ” in supplanting “ that ” as a relative. ) But the con- 
-venience of the rule is so great that beginners in composition may, with advantage, adhere to it. 

348 . Who (42, 48).—The objective form of the interrogative who is be- \ 
•coming obsolete. It is now confined almost wholly to the position immediately 
following a preposition. Thus we ask: “For whom did you inquire?” but 
« Who did you inquire for ? ” “ To whom did you apply ? ” but “ Who did you 

.apply to?'” “ Who did you see ? ” 


198 


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( a ) In an article in The Chautauquan (Feb., 1885), Mr. Richard Grant 
White said : “ All the little specks of grammar that the English has are mostly 
to be found in the pronouns. I11 the use of one of these a change is very grad¬ 
ually taking place. Whom has begun to disappear, began indeed a long time 
ago; but of late is fading somewhat more perceptibly. For example: All 
speakers of good English say, The man whom I saw, not The man who I saw; 
whom being the objective form of who. But now-a-days not one person in a 
hundred of the best bred and best educated speakers of the English language 

j asks, Whom did you see ? but Who did you see ? Indeed^ the latter form of the 
question may be regarded as accepted English. Yet in the latter phrase as hi 
the former,'the pronoun is the object of the verb see , and should strictly have 
the objective form. But Wh om did you see ? would now sound very for mal and 
precise, almost priggish. When,'however, the pronoun Is~brought in direct 
contact with the verb, as in the phrase, ‘ The man whom I saw,’ we shrink from 
insult to the little semblance of grammar that our English possesses and give 
the word its objective form. The time wall probably come, although it may be 
remote, when whom will altogether have disappeared.” 

(b) Whose is the possessive form of the pronoun who , and also of the 
adjective which . It is used: 1. As an adjective-relative (82 a , example 2)p 
2. As an interrogative indefinite (83 b) ; 3. As an ordinary indefinite pronoun 
(83 f) J 4 - As an interrogative adjective (91); 5. As an ordinary indefinite ad* 
jective (92 a). 

349 . Articles.— The word article means a “ little joint or limb.”— Dr. 
Abbott. Hence, the term is not inappropriately applied to an {a) and the , 
which are so closely connected with their nouns that they seem to be a part 
(a ‘ limb ’) of the noun. 

(a) “ The the which we often use before a comparative (adjective or ad¬ 
verb), in such phrases as— 

The more the merrier, The more he looked at her the less he liked her, 
is not an article at all, but an adverb. 

Again, in phrases like— 

Two miles an hour, Three shillings a yard, 

the an or a is not precisely the article, but a weakened form of one in another 
sense, that of * each one' ‘each,’ ‘every.’ 

Once more, in— 

He is gone a hunting, They set it a going, 

and the like (which are often, and better, written a-hunting, a-going), the a has. 
nothing to do with either the article or the numeral, but is a remnant of an old 
preposition, generally on."—Professor Whitney .—“ Essentials ” p 95 

( b) The use of an before “ historic ” and other words beginning with the 
pronounced h and accented on the second syllable, though still observed by 
some writers and speakers, is becoming obsolete. 

350 . Pronominal Adjectives (93).—Grammarians differ as to the. 





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199 


words included in this class. Professor Whitney includes all the possessive 
forms given in 81 a, while Dr. Abbott and others include only those given in 
141, regarding those given in 142 as possessive pronouns. 

351 . Words “understood” (94). — The noun should not be said to 
be “ understood,” unless it can be supplied from the same sentence. To say 
that the noun is “ understood ” after each and neither in “ Each was positive but 
neither was right,” is guess-work, since we cannot know positively what the 
noun is without going outside the sentence. Each word should be judged 
( classified) according to what it does in its own sentence. 

352 . Copula Verbs.—The copula be is generally regarded as the base, 
or root, of all the pure copulas (100 b, Note ) ; but philological research has 
proved that they come to us from three different roots. 

( a ) Concerning the verbs seem , appear , etc., in their copulative use, it may 
be observed that the emphatic do or did may be placed before them, which is 
not true of the pure copulas. When used copulatively, as seem always is, these 
words admit the copula to be after them without affecting the meaning. This is 
also true of the passive verb-phrases made from such transitive verbs as choose, 
elect, appoint, name ; as, was chosen, was elected , has been appointed. 

(b ) “Adverbial Predicate. —In some sentences, and especially with the 
verbs of condition and motion, the predicate adjective seems to modify both the 
subject and the verb. For example, in the sentence, ‘ The sun shines bright ,’ 
we mean not merely that the sun is bright, but also that the shining is bright. 
Such an adjective may be called an Adverbial Predicate Adjective, because it 
seems to have something of the force of an adverb. Other examples are, ‘ He 
stands firm;' ‘The milk has turned sour;' ‘ The tone rings clear and full;' 
‘They sat mute.'"—Whitney & Lockwood's Grammar,p. 99. 

( c ) Verbs of Identity.—“ The Intransitive Verbs ‘is,’ ‘ looks,’ ‘ seems,’ 

< appears,’ and the Transitive Verbs ‘ make,’ ‘ create,’ ‘ appoint,’ ‘ deem,’ ‘ esteem,’ 
being often used to express identity, may be called ‘Verbs of Identity.’ "—How 
to Parse, p. 105. 

(d) Copulative Verbs.—To those mentioned in the Note under 1006, 
may be added grow, get (in the sense of ‘ become ’), turn, stand, remain, con¬ 
tinue, and sound. These verbs have a two-fold office in sentences, asserting con¬ 
dition (or state of being) in some and action in others. It is principally on 
account of this double use of these copulative verbs that persons so frequently 
err by using adverbs instead of adjectives after them. Upon this point Prof. 
Sill makes the following comment: [Practical Lessons, p. 123.] “Much bad 
English is due to ignorance of the two meanings and uses of these words. It 
is noticeable that those untaught in grammar usually say, for instance, ‘ The 
city looks gay,’ as they ought, while those who attempt some precision of 
speech will blunder by saying, ‘ The city looks gaily,’ which means nothing at 
all ” Surely here, as in other matters, “ a little learning is a dangerous thing.” 


200 


PLAIN ENGLISH. 


353 . Passive Verb-plirase ( ioi).— Notice that the passive form of 
the predicate is not made by a change in the word “ kicked ” but by putting an¬ 
other word before it to form a phrase. That is, a verb does not, in itself, show 
“ passivity,” as the grammarians say. 

354 . Adverbs (103).—There are cases in which an adverb modifies a 
preposition. As examples of such, Professor Whitney gives— 

A result/a*- beyond his hopes,” “ He jumped clear over the wall,” 
and Reed and Kellogg [ “ Higher Lessons in English,” p. 43] give— 

The Suspension Bridge is stretched across the Niagara river just below the Falls.” 

(a) In a like manner, the adverb just may modify a conjunction in such sen¬ 
tences as, “ He came just as I was leaving,” “ It happened just before we arrived.” 

{b) “ The adverbs that qualify other adverbs are almost only those of degree; 

as, very , too , more , most. The same are used most freely with adjectives. But as 
adjectives shade off into participles, implying something of condition or action, 
they take more or less freely the whole series of qualifying adverbs which the 
verb takes.”— Professor Whitney.— “ Essentials,” p. 136. 

3 0 5 . “The words ‘yes’ and ‘no,’ which are used in replying or re¬ 
sponding to a question, and are therefore called responsives , were originally 
adverbs, but are so no longer because they never combine with other words as 
modifying or limiting them, but are in themselves complete answers. Thus, in 
answer to the question, ‘ Will you go ? ’ yes and no mean( respectively, ‘I will 
go,’ or ‘ I will not go.’ The responsives stand thus for a whole sentence, and 
hence are not properly parts of speech at all, in the real meaning of that name, 
but are more analogous with the interjections.’ Professor Whitney. 

306. Connectives ( 49 )•— There are five classes of connective words: 
Copula verbs (16a), relative (or conjunctive) pronouns (82), conjunctive ad¬ 
verbs (105), prepositions (26), and conjunctions (29). But of these only the 
last named are pure connectives. 

(a) A pure connective is a word that does nothing but connect other elements. 

( b ) The copula verbs assert as well as connect. (16.) 

(c) The relative pronouns connect, but at the same time they have some other office in the 
sentence, either as subject, object , or adjective-relative. (82 and 119.) 

(d) . The conjunctive adverbs, aside from being connectives, are also a modifying effect 

on other words. (105.) & 

(e) Prepositions are usually regarded as being pure connectives, but, in reality, their chief 
use is not to connect, but to introduce phrases that they help to form. They are a sort of 
phrase “ article,” as shown by the use o £ for to introduce a noun phrase. (222 a.) 

357 . Conjunctions (113 a:).—In speaking of those words that are “usually 
and naturally adverbs,” but which at times become co-ordinate conjunctions, 
Professor Sill says: “ When these words are so used, and , but , or , or nor can be 


PLAIN ENGLISH. 


201 


put in their places or supplied before them, without materially changing the 
meaning; thus— 

‘ The day is warm, nevertheless (co-ord. conj.) it is pleasant,' may be changed to ‘ The day 
is warm, but nevertheless (adverb) it is pleasant.’ 

‘ Be obedient, else (co-ord. conj.) I will punish you,’ may be changed thus—‘ Be obedient, or 
else (adverb) I will punish you.’ 

‘ He was determined, yet (co-ord. conj ) he was quiet,’ may be changed into ‘He was de¬ 
termined, and_>W (adverb) he was quiet.’ ” 

(a) Such phrases as ‘as well as,’ ‘as far as,’ etc., are adverbial conjunctive- 
phrases when they mean something like ‘ also,’ or ‘ besides ; ’ as, The man as 
well as the boy was in the wrong. But when the phrase introduces a compari¬ 
son, the second word is an adjective or an adverb; the first, an adverb modifying 
the second, and the last word is the conjunction. Examples : He looks as well 
as usual. I worked as long as I could. You did not go as far as we did. 

( b ) Correlatives (114).—Concerning the pairs of words that are commonly 
called “ correlative conjunctions,” it is to be observed that the first word of the 
pair is not a conjunction, either in sense or use, since it connects nothing. It 
is strange that grammarians have gone on copying one another in this as in 
other things. Professor Sill is the only one, so far as we have observed, who 
does not consider the first word of the pair a conjunction. He says, “ Some 
conjunctions regularly follow certain other words, usually adjectives or adverbs. 
Words so belonging together are called correlative words.” 

358. (123 a.)— -That, introducing a noun clause, has by some been called a 
conjunction. A conjunction connecting what? In case the noun clause is used 
objectively, does it, as the object, need any connecting element between it and 
the verb ? That in such cases is merely introductory and may properly be 
called the “ clause article.” [ See definition of “article ” above, 349. ] 

359. (126-7.)—These form-changes are generally called “inflections.” 
‘ Inflection ’ means a ‘bending.’ [See 362.] 

360. Plurals of Proper Nouns, Titles and Compound Nouns.— 

“ Most proper nouns form their plurals regularly. 

Examples : The Germans ; all the Smiths ; the Joneses ; both Queen Marys ; the two Gen. 
Jacksons ; any of the Henrys of England ; either of the Mrs. Browns ; the Shakespeares and 
Miltons of our time. 

{a) When we wish to refer to several members of the same family, we may 
give the plural form to the title , instead of to the name. 

Examples : The Misses Blackman ; the Messrs. Irving. 

( b) The title is also made plural when it is used with several names. 

Examples : Gens. Grant and Sherman ; Drs. Carey and Field; Misses Mary, Alice, and 
rEdith Browning; Messrs. Houghton, Mifflin & Co. ; .Presidents Cleveland and Harrison. 


202 


PLAIN ENGLISH. 


(c) Compound nouns generally add the sign of the plural to that part of the 
word which is limited or described by the other part. 

Examples: Blackbirds, merchantmen, house-tops, steamboats, hangers-on, brothers-in- 
law, knights-errant, commanders-in-chief. 

( d) Some words, originally compounds, are no longer regarded as such, and 
are treated as simple words. 

Examples: Mouthfuls, handfuls, spoonfuls. 

( e) Some few compounds make both parts of the word plural. 

Examples: Men-servants; knights-templars.” 

— Whitney & Lockwood's Grammar, p. 41 ~ 

361 . “ Gender.” —Paragraph 134 contains all that we deem it necessary 
or advisable to give on the subject of sex distinction in words. The matter is 
of no practical importance in the construction of an English sentence. The 
term “ gender ” has not been employed, for the reason that its use to denote sex 
is a forced meaning. In Latin (from which the term was copied), German, 
French, and other inflected languages, gender has to do with the words and not 
with the objects themselves. In any of these languages, the name of a woman 
may be of the masculine “ gender,” or the name of an inanimate object may be 
either of the masculine or feminine “gender;” and so an adjective may be of 
the masculine, feminine, or neuter gender, according to its required agreement 
with the word it qualifies. 

{a) The number of English nouns to which the female suffix, ess, may 
properly be added is very small. Of these, the greater part are titles, such as 
countess, empress, princess , etc., where the distinction of sex is a matter of 
necessity. The ess should not be added to a noun denoting vocation, office, or* 
rank, unless the noun primarily means a man, which is rarely the case. Besides, 
ess is generally superfluous because the noun is almost always accompanied by 
a female pronoun or title ; as, she, Mrs., Miss, or by some female Christian name. 
Thus it is absurd to say, “ Mary is a waitress at the Hotel de Bowser,” “ She 
was a poetess of considerable fame,” or “ Mrs. Queerquill is an editress of no 
mean ability,” and so forth. 

362 . “ Case ” (135).—The word case is from the Greek word which means 
“ falling,” that is, as the Greeks applied the term to words it meant the “ fall¬ 
ing ” or “ bending ” of a word (its deviation in form), from the subject form 
which they regard as erect. Hence, as Dr. Abbott remarks, “ The Greeks would 
not have used such an expression as a subjective [ ‘ nominative ’ ], ‘ case ’ at all; 
to them it would have been as absurd as to speak of an erect falling.” 

(a) Plainly, then, nouns have but one ‘case,’ the possessive. The so-called 
‘ nominative case ’ is not properly a ‘ case,’ having nothing to distinguish it as 
such. Neither is the objective use of a noun a ‘ case ’ since a noun in that posi¬ 
tion has no form (‘ falling’ or ‘bending’) to distinguish it. 


PLAIN ENGLISH. 


203 


( b) With a few of the pronouns, however, the matter of ‘ case ’ is different. 
/, he , she , we , they and who have three forms to indicate their subjective, ob¬ 
jective and possessive uses. (Though his maybe used in all three positions, 
while who is becoming a common form for both subject and object. 348.) You 
has the possessive form but no distinctive nominative or objective forms, hav¬ 
ing supplanted thou and thee as singular nominative and objective forms. We 
have spoken of the ‘ cases ’ of pronouns and the possessive ‘ case ’ of nouns, as 
forms. Dr. Abbott speaks of them as the “ uses ” of these parts of speech. 

363 . Possessive of Nouns in Apposition (137).—“ When a possessive 
noun is followed by an explanatory word, the possessive sign is added to the 
explanatory word only. But if the explanatory word has several modifiers, or 
if there are more explanatory words than one, the principal word only takes 
the sign. 

Remark.—When a common noun is explanatory of a proper noun, and the name of the 
thing possessed is omitted, the possessive sign may be added to either the modifying or princi¬ 
pal word ; as, We stopped at Tiffany, the jeweler's , or, We stoppedat Tiffany's , the jeweler. (If 
the name of the thing possessed is given , the noun immediately before it takes the sign.) 
Examples: This is Tennyson, the poet’s home. I took tea at Brown’s, my old friend and 
school-mate. This belongs to Victoria, queen of England’s domain. This province is 
Victoria’s, queen of England.” From Higher Lessons in English ( Reed & Kellogg ), p. 211. 

364 . Person in Verbs (157-8-9).—The archaic forms art and wast have 
gone out of general use along with thou and thee. With them also have gone 
the verb-form of the second person ending in st or est and the third person 
form ending in th or eth. These forms are found in older English. 

You in supplanting thou has carried with it the plural are which has thus be¬ 
come both singular and plural. This reduces the person signification of verbs 
in modern English to the first person singular of the verb be — am, which dis¬ 
tinguishes the singular / from all other singular subjects. 

The use of the plural form of other verbs with / is plainly a person use, 
since it cannot be a number use. But it is to be observed that it is not a use 
which the verb itself indicates; for it (the verb) does not distinguish between 
the first person singular, and the first, second, and third persons plural. Clearly, 
then, the distinction of person in verbs is so limited as hardly to deserve men¬ 
tion in parsing. 

365 . Participles (164).—Properly speaking, the participial noun (‘ver¬ 
bal-noun') is an infinitive, sometimes called the “infinitive in ing ” or the 
“participial infinitive; ” also called the “ gerund.” It is from the old English 
infinitive in an. However, as it is a true participle in that it shares in the na¬ 
ture of two parts of speech at once, we have classed it as such to avoid confu¬ 
sion to the student. 

( a ) [See paragraph 104.] The verbal noun (‘participle’) is used also in 

the predicate after the copula; as— 

His favorite pastime is telling stories to children. 


204 


PLAIN ENGLISH . 


( b) Dr. Abbott regards participles in such sentences as— 

Listening , we caught the sound of clattering hoofs, [Example, p. 71, top.] 

Eooking out of the window we saw them coming, [ Sentence 12, par. 171. ] 

as adverbially used, being abridged adverbial clause ; thus— 

When (or because) we were listening , we caught the sound— etc., 

and he treats the participial attendant element as adverbial in sense as shown in 
paragraph 214. We believe this to be in the line of common-sense simplicity 
in analysis and parsing. 

366 . Shall and Will ( I75-) —Thus, when I say I shall go I state merely 
proposed future action on my part; if I am asked to go and I reply I will go it 
is understood that I have promised to go. Again, if there is any hindering 
•cause or obstacle to prevent my going I may resolve to go anyway, in which case 
I naturally say, I will go, showing the exercise of will-power, —a determination 
on my part. 

The speaker may exercise will-power for himself but not for another. Thus, 
he may express determination by saying, I will go, but not by You, or he will go. 
He can, however, denote his own determination in regard to another, and its 
effects upon the person spoken to or spoken of; and this he does by saying, 
“ You, or he, shall go ; ” that is, ‘ I will oblige (compel) you, or him, to go.’ 

We should not lose sight of this distinction between shall and will, for if we 
do, we shall lose their real significance and come to regard them as mere auxil¬ 
iaries whose only use is to help express future time. The mere emphasizing 
of shall in the first person, and will in the second and third, will not make this 
•distinction as to determination on the part of the former, or obligation or 
necessity placed upon the latter. 

{a) Shall and will have been thoroughly discussed by able writers; but 
for the space it occupies we know of nothing better than the following by 
Mr. Richard Grant White : 

“ The distinction between these words, although very clear when it is once 
apprehended, is liable to be disregarded by persons who have not had the ad¬ 
vantage of early intercourse with educated English people. I mean English in 
blood and breeding ; for, as the traveller found that in Paris even the children 
•could speak French, so in New England it is noteworthy that even the boys and 
girls playing on the commons use shall and will correctly. 

The radical signification of will (Anglo-Saxon willan) is purpose, intention, 
determination; that of shall (Anglo-Saxon sceal, ought,) is obligation. I will 
do means, I purpose doing—I am determined to do. I shall do means, radically, 
I ought to do ; and as a man is supposed to do what he sees he ought to do, / 
shall do came to mean, I am about doing—to be, in fact, a mere announcement 
of future action, more or less remote. But so you shall do means, radically, you 
•ought to do; and therefore unless we mean to impose an obligation or an- 



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nounce an action on the part of another person, over whom we claim some con¬ 
trol, shall , in speaking of the mere voluntary action of another person, is inap¬ 
propriate ; and we therefore say you will, assuming that it is the volition of the 
other party to do thus or so. Hence, in merely announcing future action, we 
say, I or we shall , you, he, or they will; and, in declaring purpose on our own 
part, or on the part of another, obligation, or inevitable action, which we mean 
to control, we say, I or we will, you, he, or they shall. Official orders, which are 
in the form you will, are but a seeming exception to this rule of speech, which 
the}', in fact, illustrate. For in them the courtesy of superior to subordinate, 
carried to the extreme even in giving command, avoids the semblance of com¬ 
pulsion, while it assumes obedience in its very language. Should and would 
follow, of course, the fortunes of shall and will; and, in the following short 
dialogue, I have given, I believe, easily apprehended examples of all the proper 
uses of these words, the discrimination of which is found by some persons so 
difficult. A husband is supposed to be trying to induce his reluctant wife to go 
from their suburban home to town for a day or two. 

He. I shall go to town tomorrow. Of course you will ? 

She. No, thanks. I shall not go. I shall wait for better weather, if that will ever come. 
When shall we have three fair days together again ? 

He. Don’t mind that. You should go. I should like to have you hear Ronconi. 

She. No, no ; I will not go. 

He. [ To himself. ] But you shall go, in spite of the weather and of yourself. [ To her . ] 
Well, remember, if you should change your mind, I should be very happy to have your com¬ 
pany. Do come; you will enjoy the opera ; and you shall have the nicest possible supper at 
Delmonico's. 

She. No ; I should not enjoy the opera. There are no singers worth listening to ; and I 
wouldn’t walk to the end of the drive for the best supper Delmonico will ever cook. A man 
seems to think that any human creature would do anything for something good to eat. 

He. Most human creatures will. 

She. I shall stay at home, and you shall have your opera and your supper all to yourself. 

He. Well, if you will stay at home, you shall; and if you won't have the supper, you shan’t; 
but my trip will be dull without you. I shall be bored to death—that is, unless, indeed, your 
friend, Mrs. Dashatt Mann, should go to town tomorrow, as she said she thought she would; 
then, perhaps, we shall meet at the opera, and she and her nieces will sup with me. 

She. [ To herself. ] My dear friend Mrs. Dashatt Mann ! And so that woman will be at her 
old tricks with my husband again. But she shall find that I am mistress of this situation, in 
spite of her big black eyes and her big white shoulders. [To him.] John, why should you 
waste yourself upon those ugly, giggling girls? 

To be sure, she’s a fine woman enough ; that is, if you will buy your beauty by the pound, 
but they! 

He. O, think what I will about that, I'must take them, for politeness’ sake ; and, indeed, 
although the lady is a matron, it wouldn’t be quite proper to take her alone—would it? What 
should you say ? 

She. Well, not exactly, perhaps. But it don’t much matter, she can take care of herself, I 
should think. She’s no chicken ; she’ll never see thirty-five again. But it’s too bad you should 
be bored with her nieces—and since you’re bent on having me go with you—and—after all, I 
should like to hear Ronconi—and—you shan’t be going about with those cackling girls—well, 
John, dear, I’ll go.— Words and Their Uses, p. 26 7 . 

367. Future and Perfect “ Tenses” ( 180).—It is usual to speak of the 




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verb-phrases that indicate the future and perfect (also called the ‘ oblique ’) 
divisions of time as “ tenses ” of the verb; but in reality no verb can by itself 
denote more than two divisions of time. Thus, a person may say ‘ I walk* ‘ I 
walked ,’ expressing present and past action. But if he wishes to denote future 
time he must say, ‘I shall (or will) walk,' making use of the verb walk, which 
by itself denotes present time. Clearly, then, future time is not expressed 
by the verb walk but by the auxiliary shall (or will) placed before it. 

And so in “I have walked,” the verb walked is nothing more or less than 
the past time form of walk. It is by the use of have before the past walked that 
we denote what is called the “ present perfect tense.” 

(a) Have, in itself, denotes possession, present possession; as, “He has 
the toothache,” “I have an idea,” “We have fears.” Walked denotes a com¬ 
pleted or perfect action ; hence, have walked literally denotes present posses¬ 
sion of a perfect or completed action, and is, therefore, properly called the 
“present perfect time.” It is not, however, the present perfect tense of the 
verb walked but a “ present perfect ” verb-phrase. 

(d) Had denotes past possession ; as, “He had the money,” “They had a 
quarrel.” So in the sentence, “ I had walked a long distance,” had walked de¬ 
notes past possession of a completed action ; hence it is a “ past perfect ” verb- 
phrase, with walk as its base. 

(c) Again, in “ I shall have walked,” the phrase shall have walked denotes 
future (shall) possession (have) of a perfect, or completed, action (walked). 

368 . “ Mode.” —Regarding the so called “ mode ” of verbs, it should be 
observed that the mode (‘manner’) of making an assertion is not a quality 
(‘modification ’) of the verb itself, but a characteristic, so to speak, of the entire 
expression. For instance, a verb has no form (‘inflection’) which in 
itself denotes subjunctive use ; for that, it must depend upon its connection with 
the words expressing doubt, supposition, or future contingency. 

369 . The “subjunctive mode” (so called) of verbs is now practically 
confined to the use of were in the present (under the circumstances mentioned 
in paragraph 188) and the use of the present form of verbs with a future sense 
in conditional clauses as shown in 189. 

( a ) Concerning the subjunctive use of he and the present plural form of 
other verbs with both singular and plural subjects, in expressing present doubt 
or a future contingency as the possible condition upon which some other action 
depends, grammarians and good writers are divided in opinion and usage; but 
the preponderance of opinion and usage favors abolishing the subjunctive- 
Some authors still hold that these subjunctive uses are important since they 
make a distinction between assumed facts or facts about which the speaker is in 
doubt, and mere future contingencies; thus, 

If it rains (now, as you say it does ), I shall not go. 

If it rains (tomorrow, as it may), I shall not go. 

But these same authors tell us that when there is doubt as to whether the in- 


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207 


dicative or the subjunctive mode is required, we are to use the indicative. Now, 
it is this very uncertainty about the subjunctive that makes it objectionable ; 
for the perplexity usually results in a ridiculous mixture of the indicative and 
subjunctive forms of expression, sometimes in the same sentence. On this 
point Edward S. Gould says : [ “ Good English,” p. 147. ] 

“ The subjunctive mood is a universal stumbling-block. Nobody seems to 
understand it, although almost everybody attempts to use it. At the best, when 
it is used correctly—supposing that there is anything correct about it—it gives 
to a sentence an air of pedantry, if not of affectation. Mr. Bryant [William 
Cullen ], and Professor Hadley of Yale College, denounce it as absurd, and 
many other educated men hold the same opinion.” [ Here follows a lengthy 
quotation from Goold Brown, who himself quotes Chandler assaying: “It 
would, perhaps, be better to abolish the use of the subjunctive mood entirely. 
Its use is a continual source of dispute among grammarians and of perplexity 
to schools,” etc. Mr. Gould then continues:] 

“ Brown’s entire comments on the subjunctive mood fill three closely printed 
royal octavo pages,—338-340—of his “ Grammar of Grammars,” and the reader 
is referred to them for a full discussion of the subject. Enough is here quoted 
to justify the first paragraph of this chapter; and some instances of the way in 
which good writers use—or abuse—and do use and don’t use the subjunctive, 
may serve to illustrate, and possibly to vindicate, Chandler’s remark, “ It would, 
perhaps, be better to abolish the use of the subjunctive mood entirely.” 

[ Here follow a number of sentences showing how good writers have erred 
in the use of the subjunctive mood. Of these we quote only the following:] 

1. “ If indeed, the saying be true, ” etc.—“ If heaven expresses one thing,” etc. 

2. “ Unless he fail to express himself,” etc.—” If he does explain himself,” etc. 

3. ” If heaven is used in one sense only, and if that sense be the sidereal host,” etc. 

Mr. Gould then concludes his remarks upon the subjunctive by saying \ 

“ Similar quotations from English literature, past and present, might be con¬ 
tinued through hundreds and thousands of pages. But perhaps enough has | 
been given to induce the reader to say of the subjunctive, as is sometimes said 
of a difficult conundrum, “we had [might?] better give it up.” 

370 . The Infinitive (190).—The question as to whether the so-called 
“ sign ” of the infinitive is a preposition may be of interest to philologists, but 
it is of no importance to the average student of language. It is a mere techni¬ 
cality, and practically there is no good reason for considering it other than a 
part of the infinitive. Whatever the to may have been in former times, one 
thing is quite certain, it has come to be, as Mr. Ramsey says, “ a mere earmark 
of the infinitive.” But since this “earmark ” is so often lacking, we question 
the propriety of calling it a “ sign,” and would suggest the name “ infinitive 
article ” as a term more nearly fitting the case. 

(a ) About is now the only preposition that takes an infinitive object (191 4 ). 
Formerly the infinitive was used after for. [See Matt. 11:8; John x: 10. ] 


208 


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371 . Auxiliary Verbs (198).—Formerly, all the auxiliaries were re¬ 
garded as principal verbs, and the verb following one of them wa& regarded as 
an infinitive (as, indeed, it is) without its “sign.” In course of time, most of 
the auxiliaries came to be regarded as mere helpers in the verb-phrases; but 
as shown in paragraphs 203, 205, and 367, ought , do, and have are in reality 
principal verbs. 

372 . Appositive Adjective (211).—“ When an adjective is joined to a 
noun or a pronoun in a looser and more indirect way, as if it were the predicate 
of an abbreviated descriptive clause, it is called an appositive adjective. Its use 
is much like that of the appositive noun; and it is often, but not always, 
placed after the noun which it qualifies. 

Examples : All poetry, ancient and modern , abounds in sentiment. 

That is, all poetry, whether it be ancient or modern. 

Tired and hungry , he hastened home. 

That is, since he was tired and hungry .” 

— Whitney & Lockwood's Grammar, p. 97. 

373 . Adverbial Objective (217).—“Nouns which express measure , 
either of time, distance, weight, number, age, or value, etc., may be used like 
adverbs , to qualify verbs, adjectives, or adverbs. They may then be called 
ADVERBIAL OBJECTIVES. 

Examples : They walked a mile. The pole was five feet long. You should have come a day 
earlier. 

There is now no special case-form for this construction ; but we know, from 
the forms in older English and in other languages, that the case of the noun is 
the objective. Besides, we can often use a preposition to connect such a noun 
with the word which it qualifies. 

Examples : He waited an hour= He waited for an hour. 

It is three acres larger=It is larger by three acres. 

He died last night=during last night.” 

Whitney & Lockwood's Grammar, p. 52. 

{a.) “The adverbial phrase is sometimes contracted into a noun or a prep¬ 

ositional prefix; e. g., ‘aboard,’ ‘afoot,’ * afield;’ and sometimes still further 
into a noun without prefix of any kind; as, I am going fishing (this is a con¬ 
traction for ‘ go on fishing,’ op ‘ go a-fishing.’) ”— How to Parse, p. 94. 

374 . Cognate Object (218).—“ Some verbs, though generally intransi¬ 
tive, take occasionally after them an object whose meaning is akin to the verb. 
Such objects are called cognate ( co-, ‘ together; ’ nate, ‘ born : ’ Hence, * born 
together,’ ‘related,” ‘akin’). 

This usage is more common in poetry and in elevated language than in ordi¬ 
nary prose— 

1. They have slept their sleep. 

2. He has fought a good fight ; They shouted applause. 

3. We have walked a long walk today.” —How to Parse, p. 92. 


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209 ' 


375. Supplements (221).—Dr. Abbott calls nouns and adjectives, used 
to complete the object after “verbs of identity,” supplements , to distinguish 
them from the infinitive complements of subjects and objects. (222-3.) His 
treatment of these constructions is very thorough. [ See “ How to Parse,” p. 102.] 

( a ) Professor Whitney calls these supplements of the object “objective or 
factitive predicates.” He says : 

“ An object along with a predicate word qualifying it is taken especially often by a verb that 
is used in a factitive sense ; that is, in the sense of ‘ making or causing or bringing about ’ 
something by means of the action which the verb signifies.” 

He then gives some examples, among which are the following: 

Thus taking sing in the usual sense, we should never speak of “ singing a throat,” but we 
may say, “ I sang my throat hoarse,” meaning “ I made my throat hoarse by singing.” And in 
like manner, ‘‘She wrings the clothes dry,” “They planed the board smooth,” etc.; where 
wrings dry means ‘ makes dry by wringing,’ and so on. 

(b) “Even intransitive verbs are thus used factitively with objects and qualifying predi¬ 
cate ; thus, “ He danced his feet tired ; ” “ They wept their eyes blind.” 

( c ) “a verb, whether transitive or intransitive, is especially often used factitively when it is 
also used reflexively. [ See 218 b. ] Thus, “ They sang themselves hoarse,” “He walked him¬ 
self weary. 

[On the preceding page of “ Essentials ” appear the following examples of a similar use of 
the noun to complete the direct object: 

“ We called him a coward.” “ They chose her queen.” 

(d) “ An adjective or a noun is called objective or factitive predicate when it is brought by 
the verb into relation with the direct object, as qualifying or describing that object.” 

(e) “ In languages which distinguish the objective case throughout from the subjective or 

nominative by a different form, this predicate would, of course, be in the objective as the or¬ 
dinary predicate in the nominative; but an instance of such ‘agreement’ cannot occur in 
English except l in the case of a pronoun 1 after an infinitive.”— Essentials , p. 166. . 

376. “ Declinable pronouns are often subjects of omitted verbs ; thus— 

1. He is older than / (am). 2. I am as strong as he (is). 3. No one was 

frightened but he (was frightened). 

Note to the Teacher.—T here is a question in reference to the construction illustrated 
in No. 3 above. Many treat but in such cases as a preposition. These would condemn 
Example No. 3 , and correct it by writing him instead of he. Goold Brown, Mulligan, and 
several other eminent grammarians, however, treat but in such sentences as a co-ordinate con¬ 
junction. They teach that an omitted verb must be supplied, and that the case of the pronoun 
that follows but must be determined by the construction. Thus, they would condemn, 

They all went but him, 

because they would regard him as the subject of a suppressed verb ; but they would justify, 

They outran all the boys but me, 

supplying the ellipsis, thus— 

They outran all the boys but (they did not outrun) me, 

and making me the object of the suppressed verb outrun. 

A somewhat thorough search among English writers convinces me that ancient as well as 
modern usage upholds the latter view, viz., that but, in this case, is to be regarded not as a 
preposition, but as a co-ordinate conjunction.”— Practical Lessons in English, pp. 93-4. 


210 


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From the examples furnished by Professor Sill, we select the following, 
which we consider sufficient to sustain the opinion expressed above : 

“ This January, who is glad but he? ”— Chaucer. 

“ Who followeth Cristes gospel and his love but we? Id. 

“ Methinks nobody should be sad but I.”— Shakespeare. 

“ Take your oath that you elect no king but him.”— Id. 

“ We are alone; there’s none but thee and I.”—Id. (This passage takes both sides of the 
question.) 

“ There is none other but he.”—Mark xir: 32. [ See also, John in : 13. ] 

“ A fact of which, as none but he could be conscious, none but he could be the publisher of 
it.”— Pope. 

“ Thus she, and none but she, the insulting rage 
Of heretics opposed, from age to age .”—Dry den. 

“ And in his hand he shakes the brand 
That none but he can wield.”— Macaulay. 

“ Whose lights are fled, whose garlands dead, 

And all but he departed.”— Moore. 

“ No one knew but I.” “ If I had been coming to any but her.”— Dickens. 

“ All this while the strange man looked at nobody but me.”— Id. 

377 . Archaic Forms (169).—Outside the realm of poetry and petitions 
to the throne of grace, it is better not to attempt using the archaic (or 
“ solemn ”) forms, as they savor of affectation and are often ridiculously mixed. 
Not long ago, we saw the following sign in front of an enterprising (?) real- 
estate broker’s office : ‘‘Come unto me and thou shall receive attention.” Such 
a use of language is worse than absurd—it is disgusting to persons of good 
taste and good sense. If there is one thing that more than all others deserves 
condemnation by those who have the least grain of respect for Holy Writ, it is 
the presumptuous travesty of its familiar passages for advertising purposes. 
First cousin to it is the attempt to be witty or to say something “ cute ” (to 
which so many are prone) by making use of Scripture expressions when speak¬ 
ing of trivial things. [See page 118, Error 9.] 

378 . His or Her. —The lack of a personal pronoun of “common 
gender ” has been the cause of much perplexity in our language in speaking io 
or in speaking of the individuals comprising a class or collection of males and 
females. Of course, there is no such perplexity when an audience is composed 
entirely of males or entirely of females, for then the feminine or the masculine 
pronoun is used as the case may be. But when an audience is “ mixed,” it is 
different. It sounds awkward (as it is) to say, “Each pupil should study his 
or her lesson well.” “ LeF'each one who favors this raise his or her hand.” In 
such cases the best usage warrants our employing the masculine his, as repre¬ 
senting both males and females in the same way that the term mankind is under¬ 
stood toTn elude both men and women. Thus we say, “Each pupil should study 
his lesson well.” “ Let each one, etc., raise his hand.” 

379 . Whether or no .—This expression, which is now generally regarded 


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211 


as incorrect, is a striking illustration of the fact that “ the best usage ” is not 
the final law in language. In the words of an eminent writer on the subject, 
The best usage may have been wrong.” Whether or no was wrong a century 
or two ago (when it was freely used by good writers) in the same respect that it 
is wrong today ; it is not logical. [ See page 221. ] 

380. Had rather, etc. (258 14 .)—“No doubt there is plenty of good 

authority for had better and had rather; but how can future action be'expressed 
by a verb that signifies_past and completed possession ? Words : Their Use 
and Abuse , p. 347. -- 

(a) “ The incongruity of ‘ I had rather be,’ etc., is that of the combination of 
the sign of past time with that of present time,— had be. In these sentences, 
the word rather , meaning only sooner, may confuse and mislead some readers, 
although it is merely a modifier of had , and has no formative function in the 
sentence.. The incongruous and anomalous position of had may be seen by 
considering the expression of exactly the same thought by the use of would 
and the transposition of rather. ‘ I would be a door-keeper in the house of my 
God rather than dwell in the tents of the ungodly,’ ‘ I would be right rather 
than be President,’ are sense and English; but ‘ I had be a door-keeper, etc., rather 
than dwell,’ and ‘I had be right rather than b(T"President’ are nonsense.”— 
Every-Day English, p. 437. 

(b) “ Would rather may always be substituted for had rather. Might 
rather would not have the same meaning. Would and should do not go well 
with better. I11 one instance, can is admissible. ‘lean better afford,’ because 
can is especially associated with afford. We may say mi?ht l etter. but it has 
neither the sanction, the idiomatic force, nor the precise meaning of had belter A 
—The English Language and English Grammar , p. 413. 

381. Lie and Lay. (258 18 .)—“ Some years ago an old lady consulted an ec¬ 
centric Boston physician, and, in describing her disease, said : ‘ The trouble, 

Doctor, is that I can neither lay nor set.’ ‘ Then, Madam,’ was the reply, ‘ I 
would respectfully suggest the propriety of roosting.’ ’’—Words: Their Use and 
Abuse , p. 345. 

382. Sit and Set. (25s 24 .)—“Most of us have heard and laughed at the 
story of the judge who, when counsel spoke of the setting of the court, took 
him up with, ‘ No, brother, the court sits ; hens set.’ But I fear that some of 
us have laughed in the wrong place. Hens do not set; they sit, as the court 
does, and frequently to better purpose. No phrase is more common than 
‘ a setting hen,’ and none more incorrect. A hen sits to hatch her eggs, and, 
therefore, is a sitting hen. Sit is an active, but an intransitive verb—a very intran¬ 
sitive verb—for it means to put one’s self in a position of rest. Set is an active, 
transitive verb—very active and very transitive—for it means to cause another 
person or thing to sit, willy-nilly. A schoolma’am will illustrate the intransi- 


212 


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tive verb by sitting down quietly, and then the transitive by giving a pupil a 
setting down which is anything but quiet. This setting down is metaphorical, 
and is borrowed from the real, physical setting-down which children sometimes 
have, much to their astonishment.”— Words and Their Uses, p. 156. 

(a) Tlie sun sets.— As an explanation of the exception (or apparent 
exception) to the rule regarding sit and sitting in “The sun sets,” “The sun 
was setting,” and so forth, Mr. White shows in “ Words and their Uses ” that 
set in this case is from the old Anglo-Saxon settle , of which it is a corruption, 
settle being a noun meaning ‘ seat.’ 

383 . Botll alike. (268 s .)—“‘Those two pearls are both alike.’ This is 
equal to the story of Sam and Jem’s resembling each other very much, particu¬ 
larly Sam. When we say of two objects that they are alike, we say that they are 
like each other—that is, simply, that one is like the other. The authority of 
very long and very eminent usage can be brought in support of both alike ; but 
this is one of those points upon which such authority is of no weight; for the 
phrase is not an idiom, and it is at variance with reason. The error is more 
and other than pleonastic or than tautological. It is quite like that which I 
heard from a little girl,—a poor street waif,—who told a companion that she 
‘ had two weenie little puppy-dogs at home, and they were both brothers.’ ”— 
Words and Their Uses, pp. 88-89. 

384 . Widow woman. (268 26 .)—“ In two out of seventy instances in the 
English Bible a widow is called a widow woman ; the reason being, as I am in¬ 
formed by a friend who is, what I am not, a Hebrew scholar, that in those cases 
the original reads, ‘ a woman, a widow.’ ”— Words and Their Uses , p. 175. 

385 . It should seem. (269 19 .)—“ This isan absurd expression often met 

with even in the most esteemed authors. What does it mean ? We all under¬ 
stand the word seem in its two shades of meaning, appearing and presenting a 
false appearance. Now a thing appears or does not appear ; and that might well 
put an end to the matter. But in our great fondness for a display of modesty 
we sometimes say, unhesitatingly: ‘It would seem.’ This might consistently 
enough have a meaning, which would be : ‘ Granting certain conditions, it would 
then seem.’ But that is not what people mean by the phrase, but something like 
this : ‘ I beg pardon ten thousand times for venturing to intimate that possibly 

it seems.’ Still what is meant by ‘ It should seem,’ and wherein does it differ 
from ‘ It would seem ? ’ According to the proper signification of the words, the 
meaning should be : ‘It ought to seem, but it does not.’ Beyond that I am un¬ 
able to extract from it any semblance of sense.”— Samuel Ramsey. 

38 G. Is being built, etc, (269 20 .)—“ But,” says some one, “ how are we 
to get along without is being built, is (or was) being done, and so forth?” 
Easily enough, we think; at least we have never heard that Chaucer, Shakes¬ 
peare, and other great artists of the English language had any special difficulty 


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213 


in getting along without them. Why should we hesitate to say, “ The house is 
building,” just as the cook says, “ The bread is baking,” or “ The meat is roast¬ 
ing,” for in all such cases it is well understood that the object, being incapable 
of action, is the receiver of the action—a passive subject. But even when the 
object is capable of performing the action, we are not driven to such straits 
that we must use a passive phrase involving a union of words denoting present- 
progressing-finished action. For instance, we are not obliged to say, “ The boy 
is bei ug whipped,” nor yet “ The boy is whipping ” (which is ambiguous) ; for 
we may say, “They are (or he, or she is) whipping the boy,” or “ The boy is 
getting a whipping.” 

But this is being absurdity leads people to construct such awkward sentences 
3.s, “ A fine residence is being built at the corner of Oak and Maple' streets by 
Mr. Rich,” when theyjnean simply that “ Mr. Rich is building a fine house,” or 
■“ is having a fine house built,” etc. 

We give below the views of some eminent writers regarding is being , etc.: 

(a) “I know nothing of the history of the language, and I cannot tell whether all this 
will stand, but this I do know that rationally or irrationally, I have an undying hatred to “ is 
being,” whatever arguments are brought in its favor. At the same time I fully grant that it is 
so convenient in the present state of the language that I will not pledge myself I have never 
been guilty of using it ."—Cardinal Newman. 

The above is from a letter written by Cardinal Newman and published by 
Professor Earl in his “Philology of the English Tongue.” Mr. Ramsey 
quotes it in his book and then adds: 

“Now I do not agree with Cardinal Newman as to the convenience of the expression: 

‘ The house is being built." It seems to me quite inconvenient, inelegant, clumsy, and one that 
would be used only by a person who could think of no other to suit his purpose. Indeed, it ad¬ 
mits of greater awkwardness than I have ever seen represented, If we say, * is being built ,’ we 
may also say, ‘ has been being built,' or even * The house being being built, the family went away 
for the summer.’ Any one who will invent a better phrase will deserve public gratitude. Yet, 
bad as it is, it serves the purpose. It shows that the house is in progress, and that it is not the 
builder but the thing to be built.”— Samuel Ramsey. 

(b) “Is being done is simply exists existing done. To say, therefore, that a thing is being 
.done is not only to say (in respect of the last two participles) that a process is going on and is 
finished, at the same time, but (in respect of the whole phrase) that it exists existing finished ; 
which is no more or other than to say that it exists finished, is finished, is done ; which is ex¬ 
actly what those who use the phrase do not mean. It means that if it means anything ; but in 
fact it means nothing, and is the most incongruous combination of words and ideas that ever 
attained respectable usage in any civilized language. 

This absurdity is cloaked by the formation of to be from parts of three verbs, which gives 
us such dissimilar forms as is for the present tense, was for the past, and being for the present 
participle. It seems as if in is being there were two verbs. We may be sure that if the present 
participle of to be were formed like that of to love (loving ) we should never have heard the 
phrases bes being done or is ising done, bes being built or is ising built. This nonsense is hidden 
from the eye and deadened to the ear by the dissimilarity in form of is and being."—R. G. White. 

The following dialogue is said to have taken place some years ago in Massa¬ 
chusetts. It was published by a newspaper “ for the benefit of grammarians 

Old Gentleman.— ' Are there any houses building in your village ? ” 


214 


PLAIN ENGLISH. 


Young Lady .—“ No, Sir. There is a new house being built for Mr. Smith, but it is the car¬ 
penters who are building.” 

Gentleman. —“True; I sit corrected. To be building is certainly a different thing from to 
be being built. And how long has Mr. Smith’s house been being built? ” 

Lady .—( kooks puzzled a moment, and then answers rather abruptly.) “ Nearly a year.” 

Gentleman .—“ How much longer do you think it will be being built? ” 

Lady. —(Explosively.) "Don’t know." 

Gentleman .—“ I should think Mr. Smith would be annoyed by its being so long being built, 
for the house he now occupies being old, he must leave it, and the new one being only being 
built, instead of being built as he expected he cannot-” {Exityoung lady.] 

387 . On the street. (269 24 .)—This expression is a pure Americanism. 
Why do we not say, “on the alley,” as well as “on the street,” or “on the 
avenue.” The point is this : Whenever place is meant, with no special refer¬ 
ence to what the person or thing is standing, moving, or resting upon , we say 
(or should say) in, unless the place has no well-defined limits or is very great 
in extent. Thus we say, “The farmer is working in the field,” “ He was stand¬ 
ing in the hall,” “ The children played in the yard,” “ It happened in the alley.” 

Now, a street or an avenue has certain well-defined limits. Notice the fol¬ 
lowing definition from the Century Dictionary: 

“ Street: A public way or road, etc., including the sidewalk or sidewalks and the roadway; 
and having houses or town lots on one or both sides. Strictly the word excludes the houses 
which are on the street; or in a very common use it includes the land and houses which are 
then in the street; as a house in High street.” 

There has been some question as to whether one lives on or in a certain 
street. We venture the opinion that neither is logically correct. A person 
lives at such a number, by ( beside , ‘ by-side ’) such a street. For do we not ask, 
“ On which side of the street do you live ? ” 

388 . The exception proves the rule. (2692 9 .)—This “ popular absurd¬ 
ity ” has done so much harm in silencing the truth and hindering the right,, 
that we give space to the following from a chapter by Richard Grant White in 
“ Words and Their Uses.” We regret that limited space prevents our giving the 
chapter entire. 

“ The few people who care to say only what they mean, and who therefore 
think about what they say and what others say to them, must sometimes be 
puzzled by the reply often made to an objection, ‘Well, he, or that, is an excep¬ 
tion, and you know the exception proves the rule.’ This is uttered with calm 
assurance, as conclusive of the question at issue, and is usually received in 
silence—with an air of indifferent acquiescence on the part of the thoughtless, 
but on the part of the more thoughtful with a meek expression of bewilderment. 
The former are saved from the trouble of further mental exertion, and they are 
content; the latter feel that they have been overcome by the bringing up of a 
logical canon which always stands ready as a reserve, but the truth of which,, 
admitted as indisputable, they would like very much to be able to dispute. In 
fact, this pretentious maxim infests discussion, and pervades the every-day talk, 
of men, women, and children. It appears in the writings of historians, of es- 


PLAIN ENGLISH. 


215 


sayists, and of polemics, as well as in those of poets, novelists, and journalists. 
A legislator will use it to destroy the effect of an instance brought forward 
■which is directly at variance with some general assertion that he has made. . . 

. . It enters into the word-skirmish of flirtation. * How dare you assert/ 

says Miss Demure to Tom Croesus, defiance on her lips and witchery in her 
eye, ‘ that women nowadays are all mercenary! Don’t you know that it is au 
insult to me?’ ‘Ah, but, Miss Demure,’ replies the weakly-struggling Croesus,. 

‘ you’re an exception ; and you know the exception proves the rule.’ Where¬ 
upon the lady submits with charming grace to the conqueror, having within her 
innocent breast the consoling conviction that she is playing her big fish with a 
skill that will soon lay him gasping at her feet. There is no turn which this 
maxim is not thus made to serve ; and this use of it has gone on for a century 
or more, and people submit to the imposition without a murmur. 

An imposition the maxim is, of the most impudent kind, in its ordinary use; 
for a mere exception never proved a rule ; and that it should do so is, in the very 
nature of things, and according to the laws of right reason, impossible. Con¬ 
sider a moment. How can the fact that one man, or one thing, of a certain class, 
has certain traits or relations, prove that others of the same class have opposite 
traits and other relations? ”— Words and Their Uses, pp. 433-41. 

389 . “Awful” Words. (270.)—The habit of exaggeration, or extrava¬ 
gance, in the use of words is one that is very common, indeed, so much so that 
probably but few persons are not guilty of it in a degree. The grace of “ sound 
speech that cannot be condemned” is rare—very rare; yet it is a grace that 
should be sought after and cultivated. 

( a ) Akin to the use of such words as “awful,” “horrid,” “splendid,” “im¬ 
mense,” is the use of slang expressions; and the person who uses one will 
sooner or later find himself indulging more or less in the other. To the homely 
and forcible idioms of our language there can be 110 objection,—in fact they 
constitute an element of strength and beauty; but idioms differ materially 
from “ slang.” On this point, Professor Whitney says: “ A tendency to slang, 
to colloquial inelegancies, and even vulgarities, is the besetting sin against 
which we, as Americans, have especially to guard and to struggle.” 

390 . Misused Words. ( 271.)—We are well aware that Webster, Worces¬ 

ter, and even the great Century Dictionary admit some of the definitions, or 
uses, objected to in this list* As to that, however, we have merely to say in the 
words of Mr. White, “ Dictionaries have come to be in too many cases the per¬ 
nicious record of unreasonable, unwarranted, and fleeting usage.” This is par¬ 
ticularly true of what we have called “ counterfeit words.” [ See 278. ] On this, 
point, Mr. Gould says : [ “ Good English,” p. 35.] “ The rivalry between Wor- 

*It is proper to say, however, that the Century Dictionary, being “ an Encyclopedic lexicon 
of the English Language,” is supposed to contain the words and their uses as they are or have 
been in the past, and not merely as they should be. 



216 


PLAIN ENGLISH. 


cester and Webster, wherein each lexicographer strove to get into his book 
more words than could be found in the other’s book has caused many words to 
appear in the two dictionaries which do not belong there.” If the makers of 
“ unabridged ” dictionaries would confine their definitions of a word to those 
that are legitimate and necessary, the value of such books would be increased in¬ 
versely as the square of the pages of matter thus omitted. Then they might do 
another excellent thing by putting all incorrectly formed words into an appen¬ 
dix where those who use the books might be warned that “ these words are 
spurious.” 

If DeQuincey’s statement that “All languages tend to clear themselves of 
synonyms as intellectual culture advances ” is true, our dictionaries do not 
represent a very high state of intellectual culture. When the definitions 
(meanings) of a word are spun out until it (the word) is represented as a syn¬ 
onym of other words whose primary meanings are radically different from it, 
the word in question loses just so much of its force. The greater the number 
of meanings given a word the less definite it is. If a word has but one mean¬ 
ing, we are never in doubt as to wdiat the writer or speaker means when he uses 
it; but when a word has a half dozen different meanings, we stand just one 
chance in six of being right in our interpretation of the user’s meaning, for 
the context will not always help us out in this respect. Hence, the importance 
of confining words as nearly as possible to their primary meanings,—certainly to 
their necessary meanings. 

391 . Couple. ( 272.)—“ The noun couple is necessarily the result of the verb to couple. 
The act of coupling precedes the fact of being coupled, and therefore the meaning of the noun 
is controlled by the meaning of the verb. 

People of all classes, and writers of all positions, without the slightest misgiving, com¬ 
punction, or remorse, daily fabricate such phrases as a couple of days, a couple of dollars, a couple 
of eggs, a couple of books, a couple of weeks, months, or years ; and so on, to the end of English 
nouns-substantive. And for all that, those very people and those very writers would laugh to 
scorn any man who ventured to say, a brace of days, weeks, months, or years ; a. yoke of eggs ; a 
fair of dollars ; a span of books.”— Good English, p. 42-43. 

392 . Depot and Station. (272.)—“ Railroad depot is the abominable name usually 
given in this country to a railway station. Every depot is a station, although not in all cases a 
passenger or even a freight station ; but very few stations are depots. A depot is a place where 
stores and materials are deposited for safe keeping. Station means merely a standing, and a 
Tailway station is a railway standing—a place where trains and passengers stand for each other. 
There is no justification whatever for calling such a place a depot. And to aggravate the offense 
of so doing as much as possible, the word is pronounced in a manner which is of itself an af- 
iront to common sense and good taste—that is, neither day-poh, as it should be if it is used as a 
French word, nor dee-potl, as it should be if it has been adopted as an English word. With an 
.affectation of French pronunciation it is called dee-poh, the result being a hybrid English- 
French monster, which, with the phrase of which it forms a part, should be put out of exist¬ 
ence with all convenient despatch.”— Words and Their Uses,p. 148. 

393 . Either. ( 272.)—There is a use of either which gives it the signifi¬ 
cation of ‘ one and the other ; ’ as, “ On either side of the river was the tree of 
life;” “ On either side of the street grew stately elms.” But this use of the 


PLA/JV ENGLISH. 


217 


word lias been sharply criticised by both Gould and Mathews. Commenting 
upon the same point, Mr. White says : 

“ Either is a singular word. It expresses, and from Anglo-Saxon times has expressed, in 
the best usage, one of two and both of two. Thus, ‘ On either side of the river was the tree of 
life,’ means that the tree grew on both sides alike ; but, ‘ Take either side of the river,’ means 
that one or the other of the two sides may be taken. It is almost impossible to explain how 
this word means both one and two, and how it can be used without causing any confusion for 
intelligent people.” 

Again, the same author speaking of the pronunciation of these words, says : 

“ For the pronunciation i-ther and ni-tker , with the i long, which is sometimes heard, there 
is no authority, either of analogy or of the best speakers. It is an affectation, and in this 
country, a copy of second-rate British affectation. Persons of the best education and the high¬ 
est social position in England generally say eether and neether .” —Words and Their Uses. 

394 . m. sick. (273.)—“ I was present once when a British merchant, receiving in his 
own house a Yankee youth at a little party, said, in a tone that attracted the attention of the 
whole room, ‘Good evening! We haven’t seen you for a long while. Have you been seeck’ 
(the sneer prolonged the word), ‘ as you say in your country? ’ ‘ No, thank you,’ said the other 
frankly and promptly, ‘ I’ve been hill, as they say in yours.’ 

British officers have sick leave; British invalids keep a sick bed, or a sick room, and so 
forth, no matter what their ailment. No one of them ever speaks of ill leave, an ill room, or an 
ill bed. Was an Ill Club ever heard of in England? The incongruity is apparent, and it is 
new-born and needless. For the use of ill— an adverb—as an adjective, thus, ‘ an ill man,’ there 
isYiodeience and no excuse, except the contamination of bad example.”— Words and Their Uses. 

395 . likewise. (273.)—“An English Quaker was once asked by a lawyer whether 
he could tell the difference between and likewise. ‘ O, yes,’ was the reply, ‘ Erskine is a 
great lawj^er ; his talents are universally admired. You are a lawyer also but not like-wA*.’— 
Words: Their Use and Abuse, p. 346. 

396 . Nice. (274.)—“ One of the most offensive barbarisms now prevalent is the use of 
this as a pet word to express almost every kind of approbation, and almost every quality. Of 
the vulgarity of such expressions as * a nice man ’ (meaning a good or pleasing man), ‘ a nice 
day,’ ‘ a nice party,’ etc., there cannot be a shadow of doubt. ‘ A nice man ’ means a fastidious 
man ; a ‘ nice letter ’ is a letter very delicate in its language. Some persons are more nice than 
wise."—Words : Their Use and Abuse, p. 358. 

397 Own, Confess. (274.)—“ A man commits a crime, and on being arrested and 
intimidated into a confession, he ‘ owns ’ the crime. It must be owned , that it is a queer kind 
of ownership. There are other kinds. 

On the other hand, when confess is the right word, it is frequently tagged with a to, which 
makes strange work of the writer’s or speaker’s meaning. To confess is to acknowledge 01 to 
disclose something; and in the latter sense it is to reveal some previously unknown fact to 
some person or persons. Yet one of the well-edited Massachusetts newspapers stated that A. 

B. , previously to being hung, * confessed to two murders,’ besides the one for which he suffered ; 

C. D. ‘ confessed to three murders ; ’ and E. F. confessed to four murders,’ all previously un¬ 
known to the courts. That jumble of to's was contained in one paragraph of the newspaper 
referred to.”— Good English,p. 138. 

398 I*ell-mell. (274.)—“This word or phrase implies a crowd and confusion (Fr. 
melee ) and should never be applied, as it is by some speakers and some writers for the press, 
to an individual ; as, for instance, in this sentence from a first-rate newspaper: ‘ I rushed pell- 
mell out of the theatre.’ The writer might as well have said that he rushed out promiscuously, 
or that he marched out by platoons.’ "—Words and Their Uses, p. 145. 




218 


PLAIN ENGLISH. 


399 . Present. (274.)—“ The use of this word for introduce is, an affectation. . . In 
France, every person, in being made acquainted with another, is presented, the French lan¬ 
guage not having made the distinction which is made in England between present and intro¬ 
duce. We present foreign ministers to the President; we introduce, or should introduce, our 
friends to each other. We introduce the younger to the older, the person of lower position to 
the person of higher, the gentleman to the lady— not the older to the younger, the lady to the 
gentleman.”— JVords and Their Uses, p. 147. 

400 . Raise. ( 274.)— “ Raising the rent , for increasing the rent. A landlord notified his 
tenant that he should raise his rent. ‘ Thank you,’ was the reply ; ‘ I find it very hard to raise it 
myself.’ ”— JVords : Their Use and Abuse, p. 366. 

401 . (274.) “ Remember and Recollect are used interchangeably, as if they were 
synonyms, and the preference seems to be most generally given to the latter. They are not 
synonymous, and the distinction between them is an important one, which ought to be preserved. 
That which lies in our memory at hand, ready for use at any moment, we remember; but we 
also really do remember much that does not lie at hand, that we cannot find in our mind’s 
storehouse on the instant, and this we try to reco lle ct, that is, to re-collect. Therefore, the ex¬ 
pression, I don’t remember, but I will try to recollect, is not only“ct>rrect, but it sets forth 
a condition of the mind expressible in no other way, and to speak of which we have frequent 
necessity. The ability to do so will be impaired, if not altogether lost, when the distinction 
between the two words is done away.”— Every-Day English, p. 414. 

402 . (276.) “ Anticipate means, by derivation, to take beforehand, and its proper 
meaningdn English is to take first possession of, or to take before the proper time. If a man’s 
note is due on the 30th, and he pays it on the 25th, he anticipates its due payment. A man may 
anticipate another in doing something which both intend doing ; that is, he may succeed in 
doing it first. But his looking forward to doing either of these acts is not anticipation ; it is 
expectation.”— Every-Day English, p. 413. 

403 . Captioii. (276.)—“ The affectation of fine, big-sounding words which have a 
flavor of classical learning has had few more laughable or absurd manifestations than the use 
of caption (which means seizure, act of taking), in the sense, and in the rightful place, of head¬ 
ing. In our newspapers, even in the best of them, it is too common. This monstrous blunder 
was first made by some person who knew that captain and capital expressed the idea of head¬ 
ship, but who was sufficiently ignorant to suppose that caption, from its similarity in sound to 
those words, had a kindred meaning. But captain and capital are from the Eatin caput, a head ; 
and caption is from capio, I seize, captum, seized. Language rarely suffers at the hands of 
simple ignorance ; by which indeed it is often enriched and strengthened; but this absurd 
misuse of caption is an example of the way in which it is made mere empty sound, by the pre¬ 
tentious efforts of presuming half-knowledge.”— JVords and Their Uses, p. 98. 

, » c 1 r 

404 . (276.) “ Inaugurate is a word which migh t better be eschewed by all those who 
do not wish to talk high-flying nonsense, else they will find themselves led by bad examples 
into using it in the sense of begin, open, set up, establish. N To inaugurate is to receive or induct 
into office with solemn ceremonies. The occasions are very few in regard to which it may be 
used with propriety. But we shall read ere long of cooks inaugurating the preparation of a 
dinner, and old Irish women inaugurating a peanut stand ; as well these as inaugurating, in¬ 
stead of opening, a ball, or inaugurating, instead of setting up, or establishing, a business.”— 
Words and Their Uses, p. 128. 

405 . initiate. ( 276.)—“ It may be more elegant to say, the kettle took the initiative, 
than to use the homelier phrase to which our ears have been accustomed ; but I have not been 
able to make the discovery. And I may as well here despatch a rabble of such words, all of 
kindred origin and pretentious seeming. Unless a man is a crown prince, or other important 
public functionary, it is well for him to have a house and a home, where he lives, not a place of 






PLAIN ENGLISH. 


219 


residence, where he resides. From this let him and his household go to church or to meeting, if 
they like to do so; but let not the inmates proceed to the sanctuary. And if, being able and 
willing to do good, he gives something to the parson for the needy, let him send his cheque, and 
not transmit it. Bet him oversee his household and his business, not supervise them. Bet him 
reject, disown, refuse, or condemn what he does not like, but not repudiate it, unless he expects 
to cause shame, or to suffer it, in consequence of his action ; and what he likes let him like or 
approve or uphold, but not indorse; and, indeed, as to indorsing, let him do as little of that as 
possible. I have come from pretension into the shop, and, therefore, I add, that if he is in¬ 
formed upon a subject, has learned all about it, knows it, and understands it, let him say so, 
not that he is well posted on it. He will say what he means, simply, clearly, and forcibly, rather 
than pretentiously, vulgarly, and feebly. It is noteworthy and significant that the man who 
will say that he is posted upon this or that subject, is the very one who will use such a foolish, 
useless, pretentious word as recuperate , instead of recover. Thus the Washington correspond¬ 
ent of a leading journal wrote that General Grant and Mr. Speaker Colfax expected to start for 
Colorado on the first of July, and that their trip is ‘ for the sole purpose of recuperating their 
health.’ If the writer had omitted five of the eight words which he used to express the purpose 
of the travellers, and said the trip is ‘ for health only,’ his sentence would have been bettered 
inversely as the square of the number of words omitted. But it will not do to be so very exact¬ 
ing as to ask people not to use any more words than are necessary, and so all that can be reason¬ 
ably hoped for is, that recuperate may be shown to the door by those who have been weak 
enough to admit him. He is a mere pompous impostor. At most and best, recuperate means 
recover ; not a jot more or less. Recover came to us English through our NormanTrench kins¬ 
folk, and sometime conquerors. It is merely their recouvrer domesticated in our household. 
They got it from the Batin recuperare. But why we should go to that word to make another 
from it, which is simply a travesty of recover , passes reasonable understanding. . . .It 

would be well if all such words as those of which I have just treated could be gathered under 
one head, to be struck off at a blow by those who would like to execute justice on them.”— White. 

406 . Observe. (276.)—“ Used to mean heed, take note of, keep in view, follow, attend 
to, fulfil, *it does good service. But in the sense of say, as, I observed to him so and so, for, I 
said so and so to him, or, What did you observe ? for, What did you say? it might better be left 
to people who must be very elegant and exquisite in their speaking.”— Words and Their Uses. 

4()7 Paraphernalia. (276.)—‘‘It is a law-term and only a law-term, originally; 
and it so continues. Any use of it, out of the law, cannot be appropriate. A man cannot have 
paraphernalia. As it is thus a law-term, ‘ the people ’ would do much better to let it alone. 
But as it is a long word , the attempt to make them let it alone is something like trying to make 
a boy let a long stick of candy alone. As Hamlet says of ‘ French falconers,’ they ‘ fly it at any¬ 
thing they see,’—appendages, ornaments, trappings; in short, a miscellaneous collection of 
any sort of things. The word comes from the Greek, through the Batin, with very little change 
of spelling or pronunciation, and its meaning is, simply and concisely, beyond dower; inde¬ 
pendent of dower ; that is, over and above dower; and, when combined in Law Batin thus, 
paraphernalia bona, it means ‘goods in the wife’s disposal,’—' articles which a wife biings with 
her at her marriage, beyond her dower or jointure.’ ” Good English , p. 54. 

408 (277.) “Predicate means primarily to speak before, and, hence, to bear wit¬ 

ness to affirm to declare. So the Germans call their clergymen predicants, because they bear 
witness to and declare the gospel. But in Knglish, predicate is a technical word used by gram¬ 
marians to express that element of the sentence which affirms something of the subject, or (as 
a noun ) that which is affirmed. And thus action may be predicated of a body or an individual; 
but action predicated by a body upon circumstances or statements, is simple absurdity. Ihose 
persons for whom this distinction is too subtle might better confine themselves to plain En¬ 
glish, and ask, W r hat are you going to do about it ?—language good enough for a chief justice 
or a prime minister.”— Words and Their Uses, p. 146. 


:220 


PLAIN ENGLISH. 


409 . Counterfeit Words. (278.)—There are certain laws, so to speak, 
governing the formation, or coinage of new words. Probably no one can ex¬ 
plain just how or why these laws exist. They seem to be a part of the life of 
our language; to have, in fact, originated with the language, and to be anunder- 
lying principle in its growth. When these principles or laws are violated, the 
result is a spurious word,—a base coin, and the effect upon the language is 
harmful, just as it would be harmful to the finances of a country if the govern¬ 
ment should allow the counterfeiting of its currency to go unrestrained. 

For instance, one of the principles of word-formation is that b oth p arts of 
a derivative or compound shall be from the same source. To illustrate^this, 
take" the Greek suffixes Tze and 1 st, the former being the suffix for verbs and the 
latter for nouns. These suffixes should not be added to Anglo-Saxon w 7 ords. 
The failure to observe this rule leads to the formation of such vulgarisms as 
.talkist, walkist , shootist. The Anglo-Saxon suffix er should be added to all 
S I such words as walk , talk, shoot and teach, but not to such words as telegraph , 
photography and paragraph, which should give us telegraphist, etc. 

Again, the Greek suffix tze is sometimes erroneously added to verbs of long 
standing in the language without adding anything to the meaning. Thus, 
jeopardize, ‘ to jeopard; ’ experimentize {or experimentalize —see 279), ‘to ex¬ 
periment.’ A good example of a spurious compound is cablegram, formed by 
the union of the Anglo-Saxon cable with the Greek gram. Concerning this 
word, Richard Grant White says, “ There could not be a finer specimen of an 
utterly superfluous monster than this English-Greek hybrid cablegram .” 

410 . Anyways, Towards, etc. (278.)—“ Early English writers have given the 
words in a separate form ; as, for example, the translators of the Bible say to us ward, etc. But 
where is there a warrant for the addition of the final j to any of the words,—excepting its in¬ 
cidental, or perhaps accidental, use by certain old English writers, as Milton, Shakespeare, Dr. 
:South, and others? Those authors are doubtless followed by modern writers without number ; 
but also, one might suppose, without reflection on the part of the writers ; and certainly with¬ 
out our knowing that the fault may not have been with the printer.”— Good English , p. 25. 

411 . Gent and Pants. ( 278.)—“ Eet these words go together, like the things they 
signify. The one always wears the other.”— JVords and Their Uses. 

The things called pants in certain documents, 

Were never made for gentlemen, but gents.—Oliver Wendell Holmes. 

Strictly speaking, we should say trousers instead of pantaloons. 

412 . Marry. ( 3 2 7 -)—“ There has been not a little discussion as to the use of this word, 
•chiefly in regard to public announcements of marriage. The usual mode of making the an¬ 
nouncement is ‘Married, John Smith to Mary Jones.’ Some people having been dissatisfied 
with this form, we have seen, of late years, in certain quarters, ‘ Married, John Smith with 
Mary Jones ; and in others, ‘John Smith and Mary Jones.’ I have no hesitation in saying that 
all of these forms are incorrect. We know, indeed, what is meant by any one of them ; but the 
same is true of hundreds and thousands of erroneous uses of language. Properly speaking, a 
man is not married to a woman, or married with her ; nor are a mail and woman married with 
•each other. The woman is married to the man. It is her name that is lost in his, not his in 
hers ; she becomes a member of his family, not he of hers ."—Words and Their Uses, p. /jp 




PLAIN ENGLISH. 


221 


USAGE NOT THE FINAE RAW AS TO CORRECTNESS. 

It should be noticed that Errors 2, 3, 5, 6, 8, 14, 15, and 16, pages 117-19,. 
are questions of logical relations rather than of “grammar.” So, also, are most 
of the “popular absurdities,” pages 128-31. Indeed, nearly all the errors in 
English syntax may be resolved into questions concerning the logical sequence 
of words,—their relations according to sense; and this law of logical relations 
in the sentence is the final law as to what is correct. 

Some, however, defend such expressions as had rather , and is being done , on the 
ground that they are idiomatic and have the support of good usage. It is true 
that idioms, being, in the main, metaphorical, defy all attempts at classification ^ 
according to the technical terms and definitions of “ grammar ; ” but an idiom 
should not be illogical, and those idioms that are not logical will sooner or later 
be discarded as erroneous, just as in the case of “ whether or no.” [ See 379.] 

As to usage: No amount of good usage, however eminent the users may be, 
can make a wrong—an illogical —thing right; nor will calling an illogical 
expression an “ idiom” save it from the fate it deserves, though it may require 
a long time to bring people to see that it is wrong. 

The idea that usage decides all questions as to correctness of speech is an 
erroneous one, and one that has done much harm. There is scarcely an error 
in English syntax (even the gross errors which grammarians and others have 1 
pointed out and sought to correct in their chapters on “ false syntax,” ) but may 
be justified and defended on the ground of “good usage.” 

The first concern of the great speaker or the great writer is not about words, 
which are but the vehicles of thought, but with great thoughts and themes. 
Often these thoughts come as an inspiration to such a person and his business is 
to give them to the world. In his impassioned utterances, the speaker’s tongue 
may not always be accurate, and it is often the case that he has not an opportun¬ 
ity to recast his sentences before they appear in print. With the writer, it is 
different. He is supposed to use greater care in his choice of words and forms 
of expression ; but much of our best English literature has come from pens 
that have been impelled by impassioned or inspired minds. And so pens have 
slipped, as well as tongues. 

Again, many errors in our great masterpieces of literature have been the 
result of imperfect, or incorrect translation, while still others, no doubt, 
have crept in through the carelessness of printers. 

Of course, when the common people find certain words and forms of expres¬ 
sion in what is regarded as good literature, or hear them from the lips of good 
public speakers, they (the people) are excusable for supposing them to be cor¬ 
rect and, hence, for using them. But if such words and expressions are incor¬ 
rect—illogical—it is the duty of teachers of our language to point out the fact 
and do what they can to help preserve the purity, simplicity, and logical force of 
our noble English tongue. 


\ 


222 PLAIN ENGLISH. 


THE ENGLISH A GRAMMARLESS LANGUAGE. 

“ If then Grammar be merely declension and conjugation, which is not far 
from the truth, it plays comparatively a very insignificant part in English. All 
the irregularities of our language are more than compensated by the extreme 
paucity [ small number] of its grammatical forms. It is almost as grammarless 
as Chinese, in which no written word is ever varied by a single stroke or dot, 
and when spoken admits of only a change of tone. The weary hours arid years 
spent by our youth in parsing English sentences according to forms borrowed 
from Greek and Latin are worse than wasted—useless for the avowed purpose 
of learning to speak and write, and leading to a misapprehension of what our 
. language is. . Grammar then treats of everything relating to a 

j language that can be reduced to general facts, principles, or rules. It has to 
deal chiefly with the various forms assumed by the same words. This is, in 
! English, a very narrow field, but extremely rocky P—Samuel Ramsey. 

Sir Philip Sidney, in his “Apology for Poetry,” published in 1595, said: 

“ 1 know some will say it is a mingled language. And why not so much the better, taking 
the best of both the other? Another will say that it wan teth [lacks] grammer. Nay, truly, it 
hath that praise that it wan teth not [ does not need] grammer ; for grammer it might have, but 
it needes it not; being so easie of itselfe, and so voyd of those cumbersome differences of cases, 
genders, moodes, and tenses, which I think was a peece of the Tower of Babilon’s curse that 
a man should be put schoole to learne his mother tongue. But for the uttering sweetly and 
properly the conceits of the minde, which is the end of speech, that hath it equally with any 
other tongue in the world ; and is particularly happy in compositions of two or three words 
together, neere the Greeke, far beyond the Tatine, which is one of the greatest beauties can be 
in a language.” 

“ The reason why English has no grammar is that it is uncumbered with cases, 
genders, moods, and tenses, and, we may almost say, with grammatical person. 
For these are the essence of grammar, or rather, I should say, its conditions; 
without them there can be no grammar. Grammar has to do with the correct 
form and correlation of words. But in English there is no form, and conse¬ 
quently no correlation dependent upon form that has any noteworthy influence 
upon the construction of the sentence. Let candid objectors wait a little before 
they spring up to reply. I said ‘ noteworthy influence ’ meaning by this phrase 
to allow for certain small remnants of grammar which are to be found in the 
English language. For English had once a grammar. When the English- 
speaking people were rude, ignorant, savage, and heathen, without literature, 
without any semblance of fine art, knowing little even of the useful arts, living 
in hovels, tilling the ground in the rudest manner, having a money price for 
man’s life, their language had a grammar, which surpassed in complexity that 
of the Romans, and almost equal to that of the Greeks. But as they became 
X civilized they rid themselves of this complexity; and when they had reached 
the point at which they were about to produce a Bacon and a Shakespeare, they 
had, to all intents and purposes, freed themselves from it entirely.”— White. 


INDEX. 


Numbers refer to paragraphs. For general subjects , see Table of Contents. 


Absolute constructions, 214. 

Adjectives, 15; predicate adjectives, 16; 

deriv. and comp., 6S-9 ; kinds 0^87-93; how 
to distinguish from pro., 94 ; forms of, 145 ; 
comparison, 145; facts and errors, 241-8. 

Adjective-phrases, 69 s . 

Adjectival phrases, 27 a\ clauses, 118. 

Adverbs, 19-21, 336; how to tell, 22; 
deriv. and comp., 72-3; classes of, 103-5; 
facts and errors, 241-8. 

Adverb-phrases, 73 7 . 

Adverbial phrases, 27 b; clauses, 117. 

Adverbial nouns, 79 e, 109, 217, 373. 

Analysis, 33; exercises—--simple sen¬ 
tences, 36, 40-1, 44 ; compound sentences, 51 ; 
complex sentences, 117-25; miscel., 228. 

Appositional use of nouns, 208; pro¬ 
nouns, 209; adj., 372; infi. and part., 224. 

Articles, 90, 349, 358, 370. 

Attendant elements, 215. 

Auxiliary verbs, 197; uses, etc., 199-204. 

Can and could , 202. 

Clauses, ill a; adverbial, 117; adjec¬ 
tival, 118 ; noun, 120-3 ; conditional, 188-9. 

Comparatives, 112 5 ; form of pronoun 
after as and than , 237 a. 

Conjugation, 177; exercises, 178-80-6. 

Conjunctions, 29, 339; composition of, 
76; kinds,—co-ordinate, no; subordinate, 
in; correlative, 114, 264; errors, 264-6. 

Conjunctive-adverbs, 105. 

Conjunction-phrases, 76 77, 113. 

Copula verbs, 1677, no b, Note; 352. 

Elements, 34; principal, 35; subordi¬ 
nate, 37; adjectival, 38; adverbial, 39, 336 b; 
objective, 42-8; connecting, 49, 356 ; word, 
phrase, clause, 49; forms of,—simple, com¬ 
plex, compound, 49; order of, 52-3 ; placing 
in logical order—exercise, 54 ; attendant, 215. 


“Gender,” 361. 

Had rather , etc., 380. 

Have , use in verb-phrases, 180, 36717. 

Independent words, 31, Note; 206. 

Infinitives, 190; constructions, 191, 
222-5 I “ sign ” of omitted, 192 ; summary of 
uses, 226 ; infinitive-phrases, 194. 

Interjections, 31, 340. 

Is being built , etc., 386. 

It and there , indef. subjects, 108, 212. 

Lie and lay, 258 18 , 381. 

May and might , 201. 

“ Mode,” 368. 

Must and ought , 203. 

Nouns, 477, 5 4 ; predicate nouns, 17; 
derivative and compound, 64-5; kinds of, 
78-9 ; forms of; facts and errors, 229-233. 

Number-form of nouns, 128; of pro¬ 
nouns, 140 ; of adjectives, 150; of verbs, 152. 

Object, 42, 343; how to tell, 43; direct 
and indirect, 46; objective element, 48; ob¬ 
jects of intransitive verbs and passive verb- 
phrases, 218-19; supplemented object, 221 ; 
complement of, 222. 

Participles, 165; how to distinguish 
from nouns and adjectives, 170. 

Participle-phrases, 195; used as nouns, 
196; summary of uses, 226. 

Parts cf speech, 1, 4, 5 1 , 331. 

Phrases, 10; adjectival, 2777; noun, 65’; 
adjective, 696 ; adverb, 737 ; adverbial, 27 b ; 
predicate-adjectival, 41 a, 342 ; inverted, 41 c; 
punctuation of, 304. 

Possessive form of nouns, 135; in 
apposition, 363; of pronouns, 141-2; joint 
and separate poss., 136; poss. phrases, 137. 

Predicate, 3-5 ; must contain a verb, 9; 
bare and complete, 37; active and passive 
forms, 101. 







INDEX . 


Prepositions, 26; deriv. and comp., 74-5; 
facts and errors, 260-3; appropriate, 324-8. 

Preposition-phrases, 75 s , 338. 

Principal parts of verbs, 177. 

Pronouns, 11, 334; simple and comp., 
66-7; kinds of, 80-4 ; how to distinguish from 
adjectives, 94 ; forms of, 140-1-3; facts and 
errors, 234-240. 

Pronoun-phrases, 67 s . 

Sentences, 2, 5 1 2 ; simple and comp., 
50 ; kinds of, 55-8; complex, 124. 

Sex distinction in nouns, 134, 361. 

Shall and will , 173-5, 199, 366. 

Should and would , 200. 

Subject and predicate, 3, 5 3 ; bare and 
complete, 37,341; complement of subject, 223. 

Supplements ofobj. andsubj., 221-2,375. 

Sit and set, 258 24 , 382. 

“Tense,” 161, Note; 367. 

That, 85/; “clause article,” 358. 

Time-form of verbs, 160; but two 
forms, 161,173 a. 


To, “sign” of infinitive, 190-2, 370. 

Verbs, 4 b, 5 5 , 332; copulas, 160, ioo£. 

Note; 352; deriv. and comp., 70-1; kinds, 
96-8; how to tell trans. from intrans., 100; 
reg. and irreg., 162; prin. parts, 177; infini¬ 
tives, 190; facts and errors, 249-59; list of 
irregular, 329; defective, 330. 

Verb-forms; number, 152; person, 157- 
9, 364; time, 160; regular and irregular, 
162; other irregular forms, 163; participle 
forms, 164-6; summary, 168; archaic, 169. 

Verb-phrases, 10, 333 a; passive, 101,. 
184; expressing future time, 173; “perfect” 
time, 180-2 ; progressive, 187 ; emphatic, 205. 

Verbals, 164. 

Were used in the present, 188-9. 

Who, which and that, uses of, 85, 347. 

Words, 1; do not always belong to 
same part-of-speech, 32, 331; Anglo-Saxon 
and foreign, 59; simple, derivative and com¬ 
pound, 60-2; independent, 206; introductory, 
207; explanatory, 208. 

Word-making, 63-76. 


PRINCIPAL, AUTHORS CONSULTED. 

Abbott, Rev. E. A. 1 — How to Write Clearly, 1876. How to tell the Parts of 
Speech, 1883. How to Parse, 1883.—Roberts Brothers, Boston. 

Campbeee, L. J.— Hand-book of Synonyms and Prepositions, 1881. (Ed. 1890.) 

Lee & Shepard, Boston. 

Goued, Rev. Edw. S —Good English, 1880.—A. C. Armstrong & Son, N. Y. 
Mathews, Wieeiam — Words: Their Use and Abuse, 1880. 

S. C. Griggs & Co., Chicago. 
Ramsey, Samuee — The English Language and English Grammar, 1892. 

G. P. Putnam’s Sons, N. Y. 

SiEE, J. M. B. 2 — Practical Lessons in English, 1880.—American Book Co., N. Y. 
Townsend, L. T —Art of Speech, 1884.—D. Appleton & Co., N. Y. 

White, Richard Grant— Every-Day English, 1880. Words and Their Uses,. 

1870. (19th Ed. 1890.)—Houghton, Mifflin & Co., Boston. 

Whitney, W. D. 3 — Essentials of English Grammar, 1880. 

Whitney & Lockwood— English Grammar , 1892.—Ginn & Company, Boston. 


1. Head Master of the City of Eondon School. 

2. Principal State Normal School, Ypsilanti, Michigan. 

3. Professor of Languages in Yale University ; Editor-in-chief of the Century Dictionary. 











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